Together we make a family
by meyouthem123
Summary: Sequel to - After the wait (and few others). AU story. "Being a family means you are a part of something very wonderful. It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life" (Lisa Weedn).
1. Camping trip: Scary stroy

**AN: Hello everyone! This is the 4th installment in the AU, following the stories "Though thick and think", "Waiting for someone like you" and "After the wait".** **  
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 **This story will be written in the same manner as "After the wait", meaning, multiple small stories following each other. I will update it as often as possible, but most likley, it won't be each week like it has been with the other stories. Maybe once every 2-3 weeks, maybe once a month. That's me thinking positive about it.**

 **I just want this stroy to start, you know. I have been thinking about for a long time now and this first chapter had been written for weeks now, months actually.  
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 **I'm open to all of your ideas and story suggestions! I think it worked out pretty well with "After the wait", so lets keep that going. If you have something you would like to see(individual character or family story ideas), tell me - I will see what I can do.**

 **Don't be scared or shy to call me out if I get something wrong! English is my second langauge, but that doesn't mean you should tolorate reading a story where a word or saying is used incorectly.  
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 **I will try to include all of the family (both families!), but it will center around Callie and her struggles with being a young adult, first real job and so on. But the family will all be there, I promise!  
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 **So, this small story idea, came from a review** BumbleBrie **left for "After the wait" story a long, long time ago. I think it's a perfect way to start this off.  
**

 **Let me know what you think!**

 **I hope you enjoy :)**

Lena POV

August 13th

"Again! Again!" I heard Frankie call out

Keeping my eyes shut, I reached for my sunglasses that stood on the towel somewhere next to my arm. Once I found the sunglasses, I put them on and pressed up on my elbows to look out to the river.

Frankie swam back to Cooper, who was in the water with her. Once she was up to Cooper, he picked Frankie up and threw her in the water again, making a big splash. Two seconds later Frankie was on the surface again. She laughed out. Once she had gotten her curles out of her face, she called out swimming back to Cooper "One more time!"

Jesus and Jude were in the water with them, not too far away. They were splashing one another and laughing. Brandon was floating in the water on his back, relaxing and catching some Sun.

"I think I need more sunscreen," I heard Mariana say. Looking at my left I saw how Mariana reached for the sunscreen that was in the bag next to the towel and handed it to Callie, who was pressed up on her elbows, like me, looking at Mariana.

Callie grabbed the bottle and squeezed some of it out on Mariana's back. She put a good, thick layer on her. Once Callie had finished, she handed the bottle back to Mariana and asks to put another layer of sunscreen on her as well. When they were done, Mariana tossed the sunscreen back to the bag. They both laid back down on their stomachs and continued chatting.

"Are you seriously saying that you aren't even slightly saddened and upset that you and Gavin broke up?" Mariana asked Callie

"Well...a little bit. But it's not like I am utterly heartbroken," Callie replied "It was mutual. We both felt the same way,"

"You and Gavin were together for so long," Mariana said a moment later

"3 years is not that long," Callie reasoned back

"After ending a 3 year long relationship – I would be bawling my eyes out!" Mariana replied

"I would be bawling my eyes out, if he had broken my heart or if he had dumped me out of nowhere, unexpectedly. We both knew for some time, that things weren't going to work out. We didn't end up hating one another, we didn't end up breaking each others hearts. We simply drifted apart. It wasn't a result of something either one of us did!"

"You fell out of love," I chimed in looking at the two girls

"Exactly," Callie agreed with me, when she turned her head to look at me

Callie looked back at Mariana on her other side "That happens sometimes. And I'm not sad, because we had a good run. I enjoyed our time together. We made some great memories," Callie turned her head back to Mariana "And I will always remember him, because he was my first boyfriend,"

A moment later Callie added quietlty "Besides, I already cried about it on my moms shoudler the other week," Mariana chukcled back lightly "And Cooper got me chocolate. So...I'm good now!"

"Got the water!" I heard Stef call out. When I looked to my right side, I saw how Amy and Stef walked towards us. Stef was holding 2 liter bottle with water in her right. Amy was carrying a flying disk and a volleyball the boys asked to get from the camp site.

They both were wearing only their bathing suites. Both of them had their sunglasses on their eyes. Thier hair was made up in messy bun on top of the head and they had flip-flops. Both of their bodies were covered in the scars, that they got from the shooting that took place 3 years ago. Those scars will forever be a reminder, that we all almost lost these two woman.

"Ah, finally! Thank you!" I sat up and reached for the bottle of water "I was so thirsty!" Stef handed the bottle to me, while Amy waved her hand in the air, getting the boys attention "Hey, you in the water! I got the stuff!" The boys all started to swim to the shore

The bottle was cold to touch, it was very refreshing in this 30 degree (86 F) heat. I placed the bottle to my cheek for a little while and moaned out "Oh, so good!" I put the bottle to my neck for a little while, before I opened it and took a long sip.

"Frankie!" Stef called out walking two steps closer to the lake "Come over here for a sec!" she waved at our daughter

"5 more minutes mom!" Frankie called back as she sawm towards Cooper

"You can go back after. I want you to come drink some water! I don't want you to dehydratre!" Stef called out, holding her hand above her eyes so she would see better in the bright sun

"What about me!?" We all heard Cooper shout back with fake hurt tone in his voice "Aren't you worried about me getting dehydrated?"

"I'm worried about you! Get over here!" Amy shouted out

"Yes, ma'am!" Cooper saluted to Amy, before he splashed some water to Frankie, who was swimming to the ashore. In return, Frankie kicked her feet few times harder to the water, making some of it splash to Cooper.

In a moment everyone was gathered around me. I handed the bottle of water to Frankie, to take a sip first. After that, the bottle was passed around to everyone. Not long after, the bottle was empty.

Cooper picked up the empty bottle "I will go get this refilled!" he said and walked away towards where the stream was

"Hey, let's go play some volleyball!" Jesus suggested to the other kids as he picked up the ball. They didn't need to be told again. The kids walked a bit further away from our lounge area and started to play some ball passing it around to each other.

It was just me, Stef and Amy left in the lounge spot. Amy laid down on the towel that Callie had been on just seconds ago, but Stef laid down on her towel by my right side. I took off my sunglasses and laid down as well, resuming to sunbath my stomach.

"This is perfect," Amy sighed out some 10 minutes into sunbathing

"It sure is!" Stef agreed in the same, complete relaxed tone

It was very nice that we could get out of the city for few days, away from all of the tehnology and fast life style and just let go, relax, enjoy the nature and each other company. I could hear the kids laugh and chatter just further away. There weren't many thing that I loved more than hearing my kids laughter and knowing that they are happy and having good time.

"So, does this mean we have annual vacation together every year?" I asked out loud, keeping my eyes close "We have done it 4 years in a row now,"

"Has it been 4 already?" Stef wondered out loud

"Yes, it has. First was in 2014. We went to the, Kaspian Recreation Area. Next year, after Callie and Brandon graduated high school, we went to a small trip to Marro Bay Campsite. In 2016, after the twins graduated we went to Cerro Alto campground. And this year, we are..." I exhale deeply before I finish "God knows where!"

"The way you say it, it sounds like we are lost!" Amy chuckled back from my right

I opened my eyes, turned my head to my right side to see Amy and with a smirk on my lips I asked her "Aren't we?"

"Well...no," Amy dragged out slowly. She placed her hand over her eyes and turned her head to look at me "Not exactly," she smirked back

"Then tell me - where the hell are we?" I said and looked out to the woods and small hills that we were surrounded by. We were basically in the middle of the woods, next to a river. I know where we started, where we are going, but I had no clue as to how far we have traveled. It's not like there are a lot of signs next to the river that meanders through hills and woods.

"In the woods," Amy answered with hesitation "Somewhere next to South Fork of American river!"

"Thank you, for that detailed answer," I said with a chuckle

"Always welcome," Amy replied, when Stef reached for my hand. It instantly put a smile to my face.

"Embrace the nature," Stef said to me, she patted my hand "Just relax,"

"This _is_ perfect," I said in a hushed after a little while

* * *

"Hey, buddy!" I heard Amy say out in a little while. I also heard a heavy dog breathing. Poor Duke was hot. He had been sleeeping by our tents in the woods, in the shadow the last I saw him. Trying to stay cool. I guess, he got bored and decided to come to where everyone else was.

When I opened my eyes, I saw how Amy was petting him. He was standing next to Amy, he was licking her face. His tail wiggling back and forth.

"Yes, yes...thank you so much for washing my face," Amy said turing her left cheek to him, that way trying to stop him from licking her nose and mouth "Go say hi to Lena. Go on!" Amy patted his chest. He jumped over Amy and was up to me the next moment.

He licked my face as well. It tickled.

"Good boy, yeah!" I scratched behind his ears "Such a good boy!"

"Seriously?" Amy called out. When I glanced to her, I saw how Duek's tail was wiggling back and forth right over Amy's face, almost hitting her

"I think my mouth is clean now," I told him. It's like he understoon. He stopped licking my face and laid down between Amy and me.

"You know, I like your head better than I like your butt!" Amy said pushing his butt a little further away from her head. Duke didn't seem to mind being pushed around a little bit. He was such a calm dog.

"I will go take a swim?" Stef asked getting up "Lena, you coming?"

"Not right now. I want to catch Sun for few more minutes," I replied to Stef

"Suit yourself!" Stef said tossing her sunglasses down "Duke, come on boy! Let's go for a swim!" And just like that, Duke jumped up and ran after Stef towards the river. I heard a splash not soon after. It was probably Duke who jumped in the water.

In about 5 minutes, I heard someone walking up to us. Just when I opened my eyes, I saw Duke standing between Amy and I again, this time, soaking wet.

"Duke, nooo!" Amy and I cried out together, right before Duke started to shake dry

Frankie POV

It was already dark. Now that the Sun was down, it was a lot cooler than it was before. We were all sitting around the campfire. I was sitting on some old, fallen down tree. Somewhere in the distance an owl called out. Duke was sleeping by one of the tents, further away from the heat of the campfire.

"Here Frankie!" Jude handed me another marshmallow to roast

"Ah, dammit! There goes my food!" Brandon sighed, when his marshmallow fell in the fire. He seemed very upset about it.

"Catch!" Callie said, grabbing Brandon's attention. She tossed him another marshmallow. He raised his hand up to catch it mid air, but Jesus intercepted it.

"Hey, that was mine!" Brandon reached to get it out of his brother hand

"Too slow!" Jesus smirked back at him as he put it on his skewer and then lowered it over the fire

"Throw me another one!" Brandon said raising his hand in the air

"Sure!" Callie reached in the marshmallow bag that stood on the ground between her and Mariana and tossed him three more marshmallows one after another. He caught them all, put them on his skewerand stuck it over the fire.

"I think yours is ready," Jude nudged me softly and nodded to the marshmallow on my skewer. I lifted it off the fire and carefully touched it. It was hot by touch.

"So, does anyone knows a good scary story?" Cooper asked looking around the campfire

He and Amy were sitting opposite side of the fire. Amy was leaned back to Coopers chest, his knees were bent on both sides of Amy. They looked comfortable together. It had been 2 years now since they got married. It had been a small wedding, just family and closest friends.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Mama said raising her head up from mom's shoulder

They were holding each others hands. Mama was sitting so close to mom, that she was almost in her lap. Moms had both been very quiet. They had simply stared into the fire for the last 15 minutes. Both of them look so happy.

"Why not?" Cooper looked at my moms "A good camping trip needs a good scary story!" He reasons back with mom

My mom laughed back "We managed to live without it the last 3 years!"

"Oh, come on! It will be fun,"

"Yeah, it sounds fun!" I called out agreeing with Cooper "Let's tell scarry stories!"

"We don't want Frankie to have nightmares," mama said back to him, but briefly glanced to me. Cooper looked at me as well and nodded his head back.

"Mama!" I called out "I'm not a baby anymore! And I want to hear a scary story!"

"I don't know, honey," Mom said watching me "I think, mama is right. You got nightmare the other day, when we watched the first Harry Potter movie together!"

"The guy had a face on the back of his head, mom! It was creepy!" I reasoend back "And why do you always baby me?"

"Because," Jude ruffled my hair "You are their baby!" Mom nodded her head back agreeing with what Jude said

"I'm 8! I'm not a baby!" I stared back at Jude

"Barely!" Mom chuckled back quiely "You turned 8 only 4 days ago!"

"Oh, but you are!" Callie grinned back at me

"And always will be," Mariana added right before she tossed a marshmallow in her mouth "Oh...hot!" she cried out the next moment

"That's what you get from being the youngest," Brandon added and patted my knee

"You are like the most loved kid ever!" Jesus chimed in

"I don't want to be the youngest!" I whined back and set my eyes on Amy and Cooper "Can't you two have a kid already?" Cooper almost choked on his marshmallow, Amy almost spit out the water that she had been drinking. For a brief moment, the only noise was the firewood sputtering.

"How about that scarey story, huh?" Cooper asked out stopping the awkward silence, looking around the campfire "No one...okay, I will start!" He cleared his throat

"Yay!" I called out excited "This is going to be awsome!"

"I hope you are ready for this, because this one is based on true event!" Cooper warned me, his eyebrows raised up a lit "And it's real scary!"

"Just not too scary, okay, Cooper?" Mama whispered to Cooper. He nodded his head back.

"This shall be fun," Callie shifted in her seat a little, her full attention to Cooper

"This happened, to one of my childhood friends. She was around 15 that time," Cooper started. The way he said it, I believed it. He sounded like he was telling the truth.

"Her name was Mary!" Cooper continued on with the sotry "One time, she had to spend a night alone in home, because both of her parents were working late. Luckily the family had a dog, like Duke, only his name was..uh...Spike!" We heard a little whimper coming from Duke

"Don't worry, it wasn't any of your brothers or sisters or parents!" Cooper reassured Duke. I looked over my shoulder and saw how Duke lower his head back down over his paws. It was like he was actually listening to the story as well.

I averted my attention back to Cooper, who continued with the story "The night her parents were out working late, Mary woke up to this dripping sound -drip, drip...drip!" He said in a hushed voice and then out of nowhere I heard the exact same voice he was talking about

Snapping my head to my right, I saw how Jesus was holding his sport water bottle and dripping water onto the chopping board. I breathed out relieved that it was just Jesus.

I tightened the grip on the skewer. I was holding and looked back at Cooper. My body tense.

"Mary got up from her bed and went to the kitchen to turn off the tap properly. As she was getting back into the bed, she stuck her hand under the bed," Cooper extend his arm out "And the dog licked it,"

"But," Cooper said and paused. The wind blow making some branches creek and tree leafes move. An owl once again sang out his song.

"She woke up that night again, to the same dripping sound!" I instantly glanced to Jesus, who again made sure of the sound effects. My heart started to beat a bit faster as the story got more intense.

"Mary went to check the bathroomand made sure the tap there was closed off properly as well. She went back to the bedroom, again," Cooper extend his arm out "She stuck her hand under the bed. Her dog licked her hand again,"

I was staring intensly at Cooper, waiting for him to continue. I even hold my breath for a little while.

"When Mary woke up the next morning, she heard thier dog barking outside. And there was a note left on her nightstand that read - _humans can lick, too!_ " My eyes grew big and mouth dropped open

Stef POV

"Moms!" I was woken up by a half-whisper "Moms!"

"Huh?" I was the first one to wake. Lena next to me stirred a second a later.

"Mari?" I asked rubbing my eyes "What's the matter, honey?" It was dark outside, I could barely see her figure standing at the entrace in our tent

"Frankie can't sleep. She had a bad dream," Mariana told us. When I squinted my eyes, I could see that next to Mariana's figure at the doors in the tent, stood a smaller figure. They were holding hands. Frankie looked so small next to Mariana.

"Come here, baby!" Lena unzipped her sleeping back and patted it. Frankie let go of Mariana's hand and hurried inside the tent. She went right over my legs to get to her mama faster.

"Night honey!" I told Mari

"Good night moms!" Mariana replied as she zipped up the tent. She then walked back to the girls tent. Frankie got in the sleeping bag next to her mama and pressed close to her chest.

"What scared you baby?" Lena asked stroking her hair

"I had a dream...just like the one Cooper told," Frankie said in small voice

"Oh, honey," I scooted closer to my two girls "That was just a story. It wasn't real. Cooper made it up," I tried to sooth her

"It seemed very real," Frankie whispered back sounding scared

"You are safe with us baby," I said kissing her temple three times and then placed my arm over both of them, keeping them close and safe. I will be sure to tell him excaclty how much he scared Frankie in the morning.

"Close you eyes and try to sleep," Lena whispered to her "No monster will get pass mom," Lena pressed her lips to Frankie's forehead "She always keeps her babies safe!"


	2. Camping trip: Row, row, row your boat

**AN: Thank you everyone for the nice words and for suporting me. You guys are the best. I'm happy that so many of you continue on with me on this journey.**

 **I hope you enjoy :)**

Callie POV

Augsut 14th

I woke up, when I heard Mariana turning on her other side. She mumbled something incoherent in her sleep, but remained asleep. I reached above the air mattress I was sleeping on, where our bags, clothes and bags stood and found my watch.

It was only a little bit over 6, but I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep any longer. I felt well rested and I didn't feel like I needed any more sleep. So I put the watch around my wrist. Quietly, not to wake up Mariana, I got myself out of my sleeping-bag and I crawled over to the entrance of the tent.

Once I was out of the tent, I closed my eyes and breathed in the fresh air. Opening my eyes and looking around the campsite, I was surprised to find out that I wasn't the first one up. I saw Duke and Brandon sitting together on the ground a bit further away from our campsite. Time by time, Brandon petted Duke.

"You're up early," I said walking up to him. Duke jumped up, his tail wiggling. He ran to greet me.

Brandon looked over his shoulder "You too," I was still petting Duke, he was pressing to my legs, to get closer to me

Now that I was up to Brandon, I saw that he had his music notebook with him. The page that I saw was filled with music notes.

"What are you writing?" I asked sitting down next to him

He was sitting in a place that overlooked the river and the hills on the other side of the river beautifully. The Sun was raising and it made the view even more breathtaking. Wind was blowing softly, moving my hair and the tree leaves. Duke laid down next to my right side just hand reach away.

"I'm not sure yet," Brandon said looking down to his notes and scratching his jaw

He had a light stubble since he hadn't shaved before the camp trip. Neither Cooper, nor Brandon had taken their shavers or razors with them, so they both had a nice stubble grown out. But as we found out, Jude and Jesus weren't capable of growing a beard or even a stubble.

"I woke up, left the tent and saw this view!" he gestured to the scenary in front of us "I felt this inspiration, that I hadn't felt in a long time. So I got my notes and started writing everything down,"

I glanced to his notes "How much have you got this far?"

"Um..few pages," he shrugged off and turned a bunch of pages. B had written at least some 6 pages of notes.

"Few pages, huh?" I chuckled

"Well, I won't know, how it sounds, till we get home and I can play it and actually hear what I have written down," He said turning the pages back to the last one. Brandon tapped his pencil to the paper and scribbled few more notes down.

"You had no inspiration?" I asked referringto the fact that he mentioned he hadn't felt it in a long time

"This whole Summer, actually," He admitted ssoftly as he looked up to me "I think I had drained myself out during the last semester. I just felt...tired,"

"That's understandable. We all need to recharge and take a break time after time,"

"Yeah," He agreed, a smile appeared on his lips "And this camping trip is pretty great for that,"

"But you do like it, right? Studying in Curtis Institution of Music?"

"Yes, it's great!" He said without hesitation. I could see it in his eyes, when he talked about it, how much he loves it there "The professors are amazing. They are hard on us, but I like it that they keep pushing us. It's never dull. They bring the best out of us. I like that they keep giving us these tasks, that makes us challange ourselves!"

"Good. I'm glad you like it," I looked out to the river. In the corner of my eyes I saw Brandon smile.

"When do you fly back to Philly?"

"August 28th," Brandon said placing his notes and pencil on his left side. He pressed his hands to the ground little bit behind him and stretched his legs out. Sort of like streaching out.

"That's soon,"

"2 more weeks. Plenty of time to get tired of all of you,"

"Ha!" I called out "Maybe we will get tiered of you first!" Just for fun I added "We don't actually like you that much. We can barely tollerate you!" Brandon smirked back, knowing damn well that wasn't true and that I was just teasing him

"What about you? When do you start your new job?"

"I will start on August 30th," I said proudly, not being able to keep the big smile off my face. I got my educattion in Palomar College. The program lenght was 2 years. This was going to be my first real job. It wasn't a field intership or some clinical work in hospital, that was required for me to get my education. The training wheels were off.

"Are you nervous or scared?" He asked glancing to me

"I'm nervous and scared!" I corrected him. I'm excited about my job, but at the same time a little bit scared and anxious, because of the responsibilities and seriousness of the job. One mistake can cost another human's life.

"I guess, it would be weird if you wouldn't be," Brandon said quietly looking out to the river. Duke moved and put his head on my legs. My hand automatically went to his head to pet him.

"Morning you two!" we heard a voice right behind us. I felt a hand on my right shoulder before I felt a kiss to my left cheek.

When I glanced to Stef, she was kissing Brandon's cheek as well, while he replied to her "Good morning, mom!" Stef was crouched down behind us, her hands resting on both of our shoulders, her head between us

"Quite the view," Stef said taking in the scenary

"Beautiful," I agreed

She patted my shoulder. When I turned my head to look at her, Stef asked me "10 minutes?"

"Sounds good," I smiled back at her. Stef squeezed my shoulder softly before she stood up.

Brandon looked up to his mom and then to me "You two are crazy!"

"Thanks!" I beamed back at him as I jumped up to my feet to go get ready

~o~o~o~

We were running next to each other in quite a fast pace. The ground beneath our feet was so dry that we left a dust trail behind us as our feet hit the ground. My gaze was averted down, to watch where I put my feet. There were many roots on the trail. Many places where ankles could be twisted easily. The wind didn't do much good. Thankfully we were in the middle of the woods, so there was a shadow and we weren't in complete Sun light.

I felt sweat dripping down my back, my temple, my nose, down my stomach. My running shirt didn't have a dry spot on it. I was breathing heavily with every step that I made. Heart was beating fast and loudly in my chest. My mouth was dry. The heat was playing it's part. Stef next to me was in no better condition than I was.

"Walk?" Stef breathed out glancing to me, giving me a desperate look

"I thought you never say that," I exhaled as I stopped running "How come it's so hot this early in the morning?" I asked, when we had walked for a while

"Don't know," Stef said right before she raised her right hand up and squirted some water from the sport bottle in her mouth. I raised my bottle up as well, but before I took a sip, I squirted some on my face, refreshing myself.

"This was not a good idea," I said still breathing heavily as we walked down the trail in the woods

"You said that yesterday," Stef replied before taking another sip of the water, while I pulled on my shirt, unstucking the sticky shirt from my skin

"So why are we doing this?" I glanced to her and watched how a drop of sweat hanged on her tip of the nose. I knew the answer myself - we signed ourselves up for another marathon in September.

"We are crazy," Stef smirked back

"That we are," I agreed pressing my left hand to my waist as I started a breathing exercise for pain in the side "How long have we been running?"

Stef raised her arm up to look at the sport watch on her wrist "28 minutes,"

"Pathetic!" I said making Stef chuckle out "I have ran 3 marathons!" I turned to Stef and repeated louder "3!"

It all started with the martathon Stef signed me up to, when I talked about sex in front of Frankie and then ran from Stef and Lena. Each year following that year, I have been doing a martahon. It wasn't doing them only becuase Stef kept challenging me. It also kept in in shape for my job. Running was a great way to clear my head after the long study sessions as well. And honestly, I kind of like it now. I would even say that running is my hobby now.

Throwing my arms up I continued "And now I can't even run for 30 minutes!"

"It is 27 degrees (80 F) and the air is very…stuffy! It's very humid!" Stef reassured me "I think we should head back. It's not a good idea to keep torturing ourselves,"

"How far till we get back to the camp?" I asked looking around us. I had paid no attention what so ever as to how far we had run. Stef had found out this trial we could run, that we could run in almost a circle, not running too far from our camp.

"Umm...don't know for sure," She said looking behind us "I think another 2 km (1.24 miles),"

"Oh-god!" I whined out. My legs felt like macaroni. Breathing was hard. I barely had any energy to keep walking. There wasn't much water left in my sport bottle.

I placed my free hand on Stef's shoulder "Piggyback ride!"

"What?" Stef's head snapped to me. She pushed my hand off her shoulder "No way! Walk yourself!" she looked down to my legs

"Please!" I pleaded and blinked my brown, puppy dog eyes at her

"No," Stef stated back sternly, not changing her mind. She kept her eyes on front, refusing to look at me.

"Come on, please!" I skipped two steps to be in front of her, so she would look at me

Stef turned her head to the left "No...keep walking!"

"Stef!" I extended my arm in front of her, that way trying to stop her from walking pass me

"No!" She cried out "Get away from me!" Stef tried to avoid me the best way she could

"Help me," I said in the most miserable tone I could muster

"Oooh, no - no, that's not going to work," In a light jog, Stef ran pass me

When I wanted to jog after her, I clipped on a tree root and landed hard face down on the ground. I tasted sand in my mouth. The water bottle was gripped tightly in my hand. I didn't want to get up, because I felt embarrased how I fell.

"Callie!" Stef called out in panic. She ran back to me and crouched down to me, aiding for me.

"Owie!" I breathed out, when Stef rolled me to my side

"Are you okay? What hurts?" Stef asked scanning my body for injury

"My pride!" I got out in no-nonsense tone, making Stef laugh out. I laughed back, but remained laying on my back on the ground, looking up to her. Stef got up and stood next to me. As she looked down to me, lightly shaking her head, she sighed deeply.

~o~o~o~

"You're amazing!"

"Aha," Stef panted out. She blew her breath up, that way trying to get a stray of hair out of her eyes.

"And very strong," I looked at her flexed biceps

"Mm-hmm," Stef hummed back

"Have I told you that I love you?"

"Not in the last few weeks, no!" Stef replied keeping her eyes on the trail in front of us. She remained concentrated on her orignal task - walking!

"I do. I love you," I made sure she knows

"Good to know," Stef breathed out

Quickly I grabbed the two water bottles in my left hand and slapped her upper arm playfully "Hey!"

"I would be careful if I were you!" Stef warned me, glanced to me and gave me a firm look

"If someone says they love you, it's nice to say it back!" I lectured her

"That is true, but it doesn't apply, when the other person doesn't feel that same way,"

"You don't love me?" I asked hurt and leaned further away from her, to get a better look on her face

"Right now – no!" Stef said bluntly keeping her eyes up front

"That's not very nice," I said quietly and averted my look down to the path

"I will say it back, when I won't have to carry you on my back!" Stef replied and stopped briefly. She did a little jump, tossing me up an inch, to get abetter hold on me. I tired my best to help by adjusting on her piggyback. She has been carrying me on her back for the last 5 minutes at least. Her arms probably started to feel heavy and hurt.

"How much longer? I'm tiered!" I asked innocently looking around me to the forest

Stef stopped walking and turned her head to see me "I can drop you right here, right now-" she warned me

"Sorry, sorry!" I quickly replied and kissed her temple "You are the best!"

"Much better," Stef replied as she resumed carrying me forward, heading towards the campsite

We arrived at the campsite some couple of minutes later. Stef was still giving me piggyback ride. The others were up. They were sitting by the campfire, drinking tea and eating their breakfast alll while chatting with each other.

Jude was the first one, who saw us "Oho!" Jude laughed out "Is that what you call running Callie?"

"Hey, I ran!" I called back, still sitting on Stef's back

"For like 5 minutes!" Stef chuckled back as she carried me closer to the campfire

"Well, you sure did find yourself a nice ride." Lena grinned back as she watched us "Not sure if Stef feels the same way,"

"She promised me a foot massage in the evening at the campfire," Stef replied to her wife as she let go of me. She bent down, pressed her hands to her knees and was catching her breathe. I handed Stef back her water bottle. She took it and drank it all.

"Go take a swim," mom told me, when she turned in her seat to have a look at me "And then come get some breakfast,"

"I'm not hungry," I replied and lifted my water bottle up to take a sip

"Not up for a discussion, Callie!" Mom answered sternly "You have to eat, you need the energy. We have a long day ahead of us!"

"Hey!" I lowered the water bottle down "I'm an adult! I don't have to listen to you anymore!" I replied in a playful manner. I was half serious about it.

"Good one," mom laughed back, but then looked at me with dead serious facial expression "Do adults ask their mothers to make doctor appointments for them?"

"Mooom!" I whined out, embarrassed that she just told the others. The other kids laughed back, having fun on my expense.

Lena turned to Brandon and said with serious facial expression "Why are you laughing?" She turned to look at the twins on her other side "I remember making dentist appointments to you three only a week ago!" The smiles from Jesus, Mariana's and Brandon's faces instantly disappear, making Jude, Frankie and all the other real adults laugh out.

"It's not funny!" I said looking to mom, then to Cooper, who was sitting next to mom, and finally at Lena and Stef "It scary...calling the front desk," I didn't say it as a joke, but the adults just laughed harder

This was a real fear of mine – calling to make a doctors appointment. I can clean the house. I can make dinner. I can do loundry. But I cannot make a doctors appointment. I honestly don't know how adults to it. Just thinking about picking up a phone, dialing a number and hearing some person, who you have never even seen before in your entire life, pick up the phone - makes me cringe and shudder.

I pouted looking around the 4 adults "You are very mean!" I turned on my heel and walked towards my tent to change out of the running clothes to swimsuit

~o~o~o~

Some hour and half later, we had eaten. Mom, Lena and I were washing and putting away the little bit of dishes, pots and tableware that we had with us. Amy was rinsing it, I was drying, but Lena was putting everything in the kitchen stuff bag. Mariana was putting away the food we had taken out for breakfast.

Stef, Brandon, Jesus and Jude were rolling our tents. It was a team work and this morning, clearly, it was done faster and more efficient than last morning. Meanwhile Frankie was playing around with Duke. Cooper was by the boats, making sure they are in check and they aren't letting out air.

It didn't take long till everything was packed and we were ready to move on. Mom was walkingaround the campsite to make sure that we hadn't left anything behind, Lena was making sure that everyone had sunscreen on, so wedon't get burned.

"Okay!" Stef clapped her hands getting everyone's attention "The seating for today is the following –" She paused for dramatic effects, we all looked up to her

We had 4 boats. In the beginning we agreed that we will do rotations, so we don't get tired of each other. We all voted on the first day, that Stef will be in charge of the seating each morning.

"Jesus and Jude you are with Cooper! Frankie, you are with Amy and Duke! Mariana and Callie you are on your own today – enjoy your freedom for the day! Brandon, you are with mama and me!" Stef looked around everyone "Any objections?"

Silence. Jude and Jesus both shook theirheads. Mariana and I looked to each other, smiling, happy that we were put in one boat, without any adult supervision. Brandon simply continued to rub the sunscreen on his arms. Frankie didn't react as well as she was busy with blowing air in her face from the boat pump. Cooper took his cap off and readjusted the size, so that it fit him better.

"Wow..." Stef breathed out "Seriously? No one!" she raised her arms up and looked around the camp siteone more time, giving everyone some time to think about the seating

"Not a single objection? No bickering? No nothing?" Stef said looking around the campsite, souding dissapointed

"Are you upset that the kids all agree?" mom asked her confused as she walked towards the boats

"Well, but that's boring," Stef mumbled to herself, letting her arms fall back down to her sides

"It's a win!" Lena said to Stef, when she walked up to her. She placed her arm gently on her lower back "Take it and walk away, before they change their minds,"

~o~o~o~

We were on the water for at least some 4 hours. The Sun was up high, which meant it was the middle of the day. I was starting to feel a little bit hungry, so it was lunchtime.

Cooper, Jude and Jesus where somewhere in front of us. As well as mom, Frankie and Duke. But Stef, Lena and Brandon were behind us. I heard some distant chatter from all of them, but we were too far to hear what they were all talking about it.

"Ummm...Callie?" Mariana dragged out slowly. By her tone, but she sounded worried at the same time

"Yeah?" I asked without opening my eyes. I was too lazy to do anything. The Sun was shining bright, keeping me warm. I was waring only a bathing suite, same as Mariana. The river did it's thing and carried our boat down the river by itself. We didn't have to row at all. Mariana and I were both laid back and catching Sun.

"Callie!" She said in more persistent voice

"What is it Mari?" I asked opening my eyes and looking at her on the other end of the boat

"I think we have a problem," She said vaguely staring back at me

"What kind of a problem?"

"There is water in our boat!" Mariana said pulling her stretched out legs closer to her

"What?" I screwed up my face

"There is water in our boat!" she repeated sounding uneasy

"So what?!" I looked to the river we were floating down in a steady speed

"So what?" Mariana cried back in shock and started at me. She pointed down the middle of the boat "There is a hole in the middle of our boat, Callie!"

When my eyes traveled to the middle of the boat on the floor, I saw that some water was slowly getting int the boat. There must be a tiny tore in the floor. There was a small puddle of water in the middle of our boat. My legs were put up on the side of the baot, so I hadn't felt the water.

"We are going to sink!" Mariana called out in panic as I put my legs down and sat up straight

"Calm down," I said calmly as I moved towards the middle of the boat, so that I could see the tore better

"I don't want to die! Drowning is such a horrible way to die!"

"Don't be so dramatic! I said raising my head up and rolling my eyes at her "No one is dying. You can swim. Land is right there!" I gestured to the land on my right "It's not like we are in a open sea!"

"So you agree – we are sinking!"

"No, we -"

"Don't touch it! You are going to rip it bigger!" Mariana called out as I touched the hole, through where the water was coming in. I was trying to understand how big it was by touching it, because the water was making it hard to see.

"I'm not going to rip it!" I moved my finger over the tore, trying to feel it better

The water flow inside the boat stopped instantly, when I put the tip of index finger over it. The tore was small. Cooper can probably fix the stuff, which he took along with him, that contained some stuff for the boats. Some waterproof glue and boat material will do the trick.

Mariana slapped my hand away from the hole "Damn right!" Mariana cried out "I'm not going to allow you to rip it!"

I pulled my hand back and screw my face up in shock and confusion "Why did you hit me!?"

"I didn't!" Mariana argued back "I stopped you from ripping the hole bigger and sinking us both!"

"I tried to understand how big the tore was!" I explained to her, even thought I knew it was pretty pointless trying to reason with an overreacting Ms. Thing

"By ripping it bigger!" Mariana said back gesturing to the water in the boat "Do you want us to sink faster!? Do you have a death wish or something?"

"Mari!" I put my hands together, tips of the fingers pointed towards her "We are not sinking! It's a tiny hole! Not even a half cementer (0.2 inch) long. Cooper can fix it!" I said with certainly trying to persuade her that everything will be okay

"Look how much water is in the boat! It's at least four cups! " Mariana gestured to the puddle middle of the boat that was getting bigger with every second

Her head snapped to the side and she looked to the land on her left "Do you think we can make it?"

"To the land?" I glanced to the rocky land as well

"To safety!" She corrected me

Mariana leaned to the side of the boat and looked over to it, to the water "The river is quite fast. Thankfully the water is warm, so we won't freeze!" I wanted to add that it was 30 degree (86 F) heat, but figured it was pointless

Mariana continued to ramble "There are probably whirlpools there. The shore is at least some 50 meter (54 yards) away. The stream could be stronger than it seems! Do you think there are rocks at the bottom of the river? Should we try to save our stuff as well?" Her head snapped to the bags that were behind her "I'm an okay swimmer, but I'm not sure if I can swim while holding 3 bags. What if they pull me down or what if they catch on to something-"

"Mariana!" I chuckled at her overreacting "You do know that we have paddles and we can row to the land?" I put my hand on one of the paddle that was lifted on the side of the boat, so that it doesn't slow down our boat floating down the river

"I'm not rowing this boat anywhere!" Mariana protested and shook her head "What if we row onto something and rip the hole even bigger?"

"Paddle's can help get to the shore faster, you know, before we sin-" I was interrupted by a sound. It sounded like we went over some branch and it scratched the underneath of our boat. Everything happened fast.

"Abandoned the boat! We're sinking!" Mariana cried out as she jumped up to her feet "I'm out of here! Paddle on your own!" she said before leaped out of the boat, swaying it in the process

"Mariana!" I called out after her as I leaned over the boat to look at her. But I don't get an answer - I only get water in my face from the splash she made, when she hit the water.


	3. Camping trip: Moonstruck lunatic

Jude POV

Frankie, Jesus, Amy, Cooper and I, along with Duke, had stopped going down the river and anchored at the riverbank, where there was a clearing in the woods. We had traveled approximately half of the distance we wanted to cover today, so Cooper and Amy made the decisions to stop and have lunch, bathroom break, stretch our legs and regroup.

We set up our lunch area, which basically was a picnic area. One of our blankets was spread out on the ground, which served the purpose of a table. We laid our towels down on the ground to sit on.

Amy and Cooper were making sandwiches for everyone, but the others still haven't gotten here. I was starting to get a little worried. Our group was broken apart. I had heard some commotion coming from Callie and Mariana's boat at one point, but our boat was too far to hear what they were talking about or see what happened. After a curve turn, we lost sight of them completly. It was most likely that they stopped for a while.

I was standing by the riverbank, few steps away from our boats. Water reached over my ankles. The ground was a lot more rockier than it was, where we spent the night. I was looking out to the river, to the way we came from, waiting for them to show up. There was a curve turn in the river, so I couldn't see that far. Maybe 200 meters (218.72 yards). Bushes and trees that were surrounding the river didn't exactly make things more visible. Duke was stomping the water along the river, drinking and cooling off. I heard the others talking behind me, in the clearing, where we had set down.

"Anything?" Jesus walked up to me carrying two sandwiches

"Nop," I answered as Jesus handed me one of the sandwiches, I briefly looked down to it, but declined "Thanks, but I'm not hungry,"

"I wasn't asking. Eat up," Jesus insisted "You will feel better," he added right before taking a big bite out of his sandwich

He held the sandwich out to me till I finally took it. I took a bite out of it, not really wanting to. I knew Jesus won't leave me alone till I do. My appetite will most likely be back, when the rest of our group is here as well.

"What do you think happened to them?" I asked, when I glanced to my brother

He shrugged at first, as he was still chewing "Probably some setback with one of their boats,"

"I don't like that we don't know anything," I replied, keeping my eyes out on the river

"I know. I'm worried too," Jesus admitted, placing his left palm on my shoulder "I'm sure they are fine, Jude!" he tried to solace me

"Boys? I know you are worried, but, please, come join us. By standing there and watching the river, they won't show up faster," Amy called out to us. I looked over my shoulder to her. Amy grabbed a water bottle from one of our food bags and carried it over to Frankie. Once she was up to my sister, she opened it and handed the water to Frankie.

I sighed, knowing Amy was right. There was no real use in just standing here and watching the river. The time will pass faster if I keep myself busy and occupied. Nice company always helps. I turned around and walked towards our set up lunch area. Jesus followed me on my six.

"Whatever happened, I'm sure your moms are handling it," Amy assured us, when I sat down on my knees next Frankie, Jesus took a seat on my other side "They are more than capable of taking care of stuff!"

"Don't we know it," Jesus chuckled as he and I shared a look

"Your mama especially," Cooper added as he was making another sandwich for Frankie. He was cutting up tomatoes for Frankie to eat along the cheese sandwich "Lena looks harmless, but she's a force to be reckon with!"

I narrowed my eyes at Cooper and watched him carefully for a while. The last sentence made me wonder, was Cooper afraid of mama. It sure sounded like that.

"What?" he asked noticing my look "Why are you looking at me like that?" Amy took the water bottle away from Frankie, when she was done drinking. Before closing it, she offered it to Jesus, who took it. She handed him the bottle cap as well.

"Nothing," I shook my head, averting my look away from him

"You're scared of mama?" Frankie looked up to him, asking him what I hadn't, but was thinking about

Cooper made a face and looked down to my sister "No! No, why do you-" he laughed awkwardly "No, not at all. No!" Cooper patted Frankie's head and tried to change the subject quickly "Eat your lunch!"

Everyone around our set up lunch picking table shared a look and laughed about it, as we all remember the camping trip 2 years ago. It was the first time Cooper joined us. It happened the first night on our camping trip.

That year, when we had reached the camping ground and started unpacking our bags, Cooper had wanted to take the charge of things and had instructed Lena to _make sandwiches._ Cooper, himself wanted to do the _man side of the job_ and sets up the tents and starts the fire. Mama, being the feminist that she is, of course got offended and called Cooper out, asking him if he believes that she can't set up a tent and whether or not she is only there for what men assume are the typical jobs for woman.

We all know, that mama loves making dinner for us. She has a whole recipe book and she's always eager to make new, healthy things for us. She enjoys cooking. Mama simply didn't like that Cooper told her to make dinner in that manner. It's the attitude that she didn't like, the way he tried to order her around. It turned ugly quite fast as Cooper quickly learned not to piss off mama with his typical man thinking. He learned from his mistake and hasn't repeated it.

"You know what," Cooper brushed his hands against each other to clean them off from the bread crumbs "Fine!" He looked around us "I'll admit it – your mama scares me sometimes! Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"It took you long enough to admit it!" Jesus smiled at him before he shoved the last of his sandwich in his mouth. Frankie giggled, Amy chuckle quietly as well.

"Yeah, what has it been like...2 years?" I teased him, smirking at him

"Okay, okay," Amy walked up behind me and Jesus, putting her hands on our shoulders "We had our fun on the behalf of Cooper. How about we move on, huh?"

"Protecting your hubby, I see?" I grinned at Amy as I looked up to her

"Someone has to!" Amy smiled back and kissed the top of my head

"Thank you!" Cooper mouthed looking up to Amy, who was walking up to him. They shared a small, quick kiss, before Amy sat down next to him.

"Kids can be mean sometimes!" he whispered to Amy, but made sure we all heard it. Cooper gave us all a look.

"Mama!" Frankie called out and jumped up to her feet. We all looked out to the river and saw how mama and Callie got their boat on the land. Not too far from them was Stef, Brandon and Mariana. They were still rowing towards the riverbank.

Frankie ran towards the river. Mama hadn't gotten out of the boat, when Frankie jumped in their boat and hugged Lena tightly. Callie had a big smile, from one ear to other, as she watched them.

"We were all worried about you, mama!" She cried out as she hugged her mom "We thought something happened to you!"

"We're okay, baby!" Mama said stroking Frankie's cheek softly "Everyone is okay!" Mama assured Frankie befre her and Callie slowly started to get out of the boat

"What took you so long?" Amy called from where we all sat

"We had a little...uh-" mama glanced to Callie, who was now walking towards us "Mishap! But like I said, everything is okay!"

I did notice that the seating had changed. Last time we saw them, Callie was in the same boat as Mariana. Mama had switched with Mari. I started to wonder why. It did seem a little odd to me. As I looked over to Mariana, who was now starting to get up from the boat so she could get out, I noticed her hair was wet and her swimsuit looked wet as well, like she had taken a swim.

Callie sat down next to Amy, who handed her a sandwich. Lena and Frankie sat down shortly after. Cooper grabbed one of the sandwiches he had made and handed it to Lena.

Before Callie started to eat, she looked straight to Jesus "Your sister is crazy bananas and selfish. And F.Y.I – if anyone ever found themselves and her in life or death situation – she would leave you to die and save herself!" with that said she took an angry bite out of her sandwich and shot a look towards Mariana

Everyone stayed perfectly still and quiet at that, except for Lena, who sighed in defeat as she lightly shook her head. In the morning Callie and Mariana seemed as close as they could be. Now, well, it was no secret that something had happened between them.

The next moment I heard Mariana's voice "But your sister, Jude," I looked over my shoulder to see her "is a buzzkill, hypersensitive and as I found out, she has a death wish! Also she has no problem with putting other lives in danger as well!"

Eyes darted around. But no one said anything. Everyone looked to our moms or Brandon for answer as to what had happened that caused this rift between them.

"I have a death wish?! Are you fearking kidding me?" Callie barked back, it looked like she was ready to jump up to her feet and start a cat fight with Mariana "You were the one who jumped out of the boat head first!"

"Don't be so over dramatic!" Mariana replied

I heard Callie mutter to herself "I'm the over dramatic? Sure...why not!"

"Nothing happened! I know how to swim!" Mariana continued as she crossed her arms on her chest and put her weight on her left leg

"Wh-aaat is happening?" Jesus dragged out quietly as he leaned closer to me

"No idea!" I whispered back as I continued to witness the fight my sisters were having

"I'm not talking about swimming, Mariana!" Callie shouted back at her, sounding very much like Stef, when she is angry "Jumping head first into unknown water is dangerous! You could have broken your neck!"

"Why are you pissed at me?" Mariana shouted back upset "You were the one that was putting our lives in danger!"

"I'm—oh my god!" Callie covered her face in her palms, when she took her hands away from her face, she asked in disbelief as she tapped her fingers to her chest "How am I the bad guy in this?"

"You were ripping the tore bigger!" Mariana yelled back, gesturing both hands towards Callie "What was I suppose to do? Sit there and wait for you to sink us! I'm sorry, but I don't have a death wish, which you obviosuly have!"

"I wasn't ripping anything, you...you moonstruck lunatic!" Callie yelled back, loosing her temper. Mariana gasped at the insult, she looked hurt.

"Go take a walk and calm yourself down," Amy told Callie as she placed her palm on her forearm, it wasn't a suggestion "Now!"

"Gladly!" Callie muttered back, while glaring at Mariana. She got up to her feet fast, grabbed her sandwich that she had dropped to the blanket when her and Mariana had started to shout at one another and stormed off into the woods.

I jumped up to my feet and ran after Callie, who was going deeper in the woods.

"Callie! Wait up!" I called as I was trying to catch up with her

"Your sister is a lunatic!" Callie told me as she kept walking "Completely bananas!"

"What happened?" I asked, when I was finally walking next to her

"I don't want to talk about it right now, Jude!"

"Okay, we not talking about it," I said as I following her on her six

We had walked for maybe 5 minutes, when Callie finally stopped marching and stopped. She tilted her head down. I heard her sniff few times. He shoulders trembled lightly.

"Callie?" I asked softly, not understanding what was happening, why she suddenly seemed so upset and emotional

Gingerly I took step closer to her and put my hand on her shoulder. The moment my palm touched her shoulder, Callie cried out as she covered her face with her hands. Next thing I know, she turned around and buried her face in my shoulder. Her arms wrap around me tightly. I felt her fingertips press into my back as she was holding on to me.

"She scared me so much, Jude!" Callie whispered out as I gently put my arms around her as well, to keep her close to me

I leaned my head to her head and closed my eyes "It's okay, Callie. Mariana is okay," I said soothingly

Callie POV

After our lunch pause, we got back into our boats and continued on with our journey. The seating remained the same as it was. Cooper, Jesus and Jude were leading. Lena and I followed them closely behind. Amy, Frankie and Duke followed us, but Stef, Brandon and Mariana were the last ones.

It wasn't long after we had been on the water, that Lena spoke up "You have changed," Lena stated as she slowly and softly was rowing the boat

"Changed?" I asked not getting what she was referring to

"You see the world differently, than you did before," Lena clarified, but at the same time, not really

"Before?" prepelexed I raised my eyebrow at her "Before what?"

"Before you became a paramedic," Lena pointed out. I shifted in my seat and looked to the riverside, to the woods we were slowly passing, suddenly feeling uncomfortable as to how easy it was for Lena to read me like that

"Your perception of the World, of certain situations - has changed. The World in your eyes has become more dangerous. Now you see all the ways a situation can turn badly. You see all the ways people close to you, people you care about, people you love - could get hurt. Not that you didn't see it before, but now...now it scares and worries you more than it did before, because you have seen the aftermath of tragic accidents. You see how it affects people," Lena explained casually

Everything Lena said was absolutely right. Not that it surprised me anymore. I purse my lips together and looked back at Lena.

"So what is going to be your big advice?" I tilted my head slightly to one side as I continued to keep my eyes on the older woman in front of me

A small smirk appeared on her lips "Just talk to her when we are at our camp tonight,"

I blew out a breath and averted my gaze to the river by my left side "Well, that's lame," after one breathe I added "And simple,"

Lena let the paddles go, allowing them to hang down in the water. She leaned towards me and placed her hands on my knees "Why complicate things?" She asked me rethoricaly "Tell her how it made you feel. Explain to her, why you were so worried. Let her know, why her actions got you so scared,"

I sighed and glanced back to Lena. She smiled at me.

"Do you think she's still mad at me for calling her moonstruck lunatic?"

Lena shook her head, showing it could go both ways "You did yell it at her,"

"I did it out of love?" I tried to make an excuse

~o~o~o~

After some 4 hours of going down the river, we finally reached our today's destination point. We all worked together to set up our tents, getting fire for campfire and making dinner.

Not too far away from us, a bit lower the riverback, we all saw that another family or group of friends had camped out for the night. Same as us, they had boats. From the far and through the bushes and trees we saw only two tents. We didn't spent too much attention to them, we simply were aware that this time, another group of people were camped out not too far away from us. To us it simply meant, we should try and be more quiet, not to disturbe them.

I was crouched down by the campfire, checking the soup that was in making. The soup still needed another few minutes. Still crouched down, I glanced to our tent. Mariana and Frankie were in there, setting up their mattress and sleeping bags.

"Brandon," I said standing up. He was sitting on the ground, his back against some old tree stem, that was put there as a bench "Keep and eye out for the soup, will you?"

"Sure thing," He smiled back and continued to poke the fire with the small tree branch he had picked up

I made my way over to the tent. Mariana looked up to me, throwing daggers my way with her look, but quickly averted her look down. We hadn't exchange a word, not since the lunch. I think Frankie was mad at me as well as she was sticking close with Mariana and hasn't said a word to me as well. Not to mention the looks, she gave me looks as well. Hurting her sister was not a smart idea.

"Frankie, can you give me and Mariana a minute, please?" I asked looking down to the small girl

"Are you going to call her moonstruck lunatic again?" Frankie questioned and then lectured me "That wasn't nice! Calling people names is bad!" She sounded very much like Lena

"You're right. That was mean of me. But I promise I won't call her names," I answered. Frankie looked back at her sister, who was rolling out the sleeping back. Mariana didn't even briefly look up to me. She ignored me.

"Okay, but I'll be watching you!" Frankie pointed to me and said in her most threathening voice. I raised my hands up, showing her I understand her warning and that I'm going to keep it civil.

Frankie got up from her knees and walked out of the tent, leaving Mariana and me alone. She was behaving like I wasn't there. No longer acknowledgeding me as a someone who mattered.

I moved deeper inside the tent and sat down on my mattress and sleeping bag, which was on the other side of Frankie's, who was set up in the middle of the tent.

I was having trouble starting the conversation, because I didn't know what to tell her. Mariana wasn't making it any easier.

"On my last week of my training, when I was driving along paramedics to calls, we had this one emergency," I started, Mariana didn't even look at me for a second "It was in some rich neighborhood. Three story houses or should I say - mansions. Expensive cars. Pools. Poolside houses."

"Why are you telling me this?" Mariana snapped back at me already done with me "What does it have to do with anything?"

"Just let me finish, please!" I said calmly and continued on with my story "Anyway, there had been a party going on in one of the houses. Teenager party. They couldn't be older than me or you. There was loud music. Alcohol. Typical stuff."

"Some guys, had decided that it would be fun to jump in the pool, not from the side or like the dive board, but from the roof of the house," I explained. Mariana shifted in her seat, getting slightly curious about the stroy, but I could tell she was still angry with me.

"The guy, who had jumped from the roof first-" I touched my lips and nose with my hands real quick "He, uh..he jumped in on his head. What he hadn't realized, was that the pool was too shallow for that sort of jump. The guy had hit his head on the bottom of the pool. He had a spinal cord injury," I said pointing to my back of the neck

"What happened to him?" Mariana asked quietly

"He's paralyzed and will spend the rest of his life in wheelchair," I replied sadly

"When you jumped out of the boat like that, with your head first and didn't swim up straight away – it reminded me of that call I just told you about," I explained "That scared me, very much. But mostly I was angry, because I couldn't understand why you – one of the smartest persons I know – would do something so reckless and careless, and endanger your own life like that," as I talked, I got more emotional as time went on. Mariana's features softened as I continued on with the stroy.

"You are like a sister to me and if something like that happened to you, I would never forgive myself. I know I overreacted by yelling at you. That was wrong. It's like my anger took over-" I bit my lip as I trailed off not wanting to think about it anymore

"I'm sorry," Mariana said softly "You are right. I was reckless and didn't think about safety. I didn't even think about how my stunt could have ended. I'm sorry that I scared you so much. It was never my intention," I nodded my head back slowly as I listened to you

"Can we hug it out?" Mariana asked warily. I nodded my head back vigorously wanting nothing else in this moment.

"I'm also sorry I called you moonstruck lunatic and crazy bananas," I said, when I leaned in the hug

"I forgive you!" She replied "You're like a sister to me as well," Mariana whispered, when we were in the hug

"Aren't you going to say that you overreacted about the tore?" I asked as we were still in the hug, my chin was pressed to her left shoulder. It was like the moment of truth. I expected her to say something about it.

"Nop, because I didn't. That tore was huge! It could have sunk us!" Mariana replied making me laugh out "I'm never getting in _that_ boat ever again!"

Cooper POV

August 15th

It was the next morning. Everyone was already up and everyone was occupied with whatever they were doing. Our fire was already on. The hot water for tea was still boiling.

I had just gathered some more wood for the fire, when I heard someone call out "Hello there!" a man waved at me from the bushes. He stood on the side, where the groupd of people had camped out.

Everyone in our camp, briefly froze in their actions. I dropped the three logs down to the fire.

"Hello!" I replied and walked towards the man. Looking over my shoulder I saw how everyone went back to what they were doing before, like nothing had happened, knowing that I will handle this.

"I'm Jerry," he extended his arm to me

"Cooper," I shook his hand

"Me and my friends are camped out right there," he pointed over his shoulder to the other camp "So, we woke up this morning and...well, as embarrasing as it is, we are out of matches. Can't light a fire. We had only packed one match box and we used the last on our campfire the night before,"

"That's why I always follow a check list!" I chuckled back

He laughed softly as well "That was probably a smart idea. I will write one the next time,"

"Right," I laughed along

"Anyway, do you by any chance have some matches you could spare?" He asked me

"Yeah, I think we have a box we could spare," I explained "Be right back," I told him and went to find one of our spare match box. When I returned to him, I handed him the match box.

"Thank you so much. You're a life saver!"

"Happy to help," I replied, but noticed how he kept looking over my shoulder to the family

"Anything else you need help with?" I asked not liking the way he observed them. He snapped out of his thought and looked back at me. Then his look once again was averted to the family behind me.

"Hey..you-you are the..." He pointed to me, suddenly looking very excited "Oh, man!"

"What?" I asked confused

"Oh this is great!" He smiled widely at me "I never thought I would meet someone like you in real life!"

"What are you talking about?" I was now prepelexed about what he was talking about

"Your sister wives. What else could I be talking about man!" The Jerry guy gave me a quick pat on my elbow "Man, all three of your wives are so fucking hot!"

"My what?" I blurred out shocked and amused at the same time

"Sister wives!" He repeated "Like that show...on TLC!" The guy was no staring at Lena, Stef and Amy

The guy had said it so loud, that Stef, Lena and Amy had heard him. I heard Stef ask the guy the next moment "What did you just call us?"


	4. Camping trip: Retaliation

Cooper POV

"What did you just call us?" I heard Stef ask in a manner that said - thread carefully

Looking over my shoulder to Stef, I saw how Lena placed her hand on her wife's forearm and held her back, stopping her from marching over to the guy. I was standing between Jerry and the three woman, who all looked incredibly insulted by what the man said. By the looks, his words hurt Stef and Lena more than Amy.

I kept turning my head back and forth to keep all of them in my sight. When looking towards the three woman, I saw that in the background at the camp, the kids gathered together to observe what was going on from distance. They were talking to each other, but I was too far from them to hear anything.

"Sister wives," Jerry repeated without any problem, not bothered by the tone Stef had asked that "Is that not what you are called?" He looked from Stef to Amy, back to Stef and then over to Lena as he pointed his finger between the three of them "I just thought that's the name you all go by...you know, like they say on TV as well!"

"Let me get this straight," Stef spoke slowly "The moment you see three woman together with one man, you automatically assume that all the woman must be married to the guy?" Now I finally understood what sister wives meant and why it had offended Stef and Lena so much. Both of them being lesbians and most of all – feminists. I could now clearly see what set them off so much.

"What else am I suppose to assume?" Jerry chuckled back, infuriating Stef even more. I was surprised as to how calm Lena was right now. But then again, she was probably so calm to keep Stef in her place.

"That families are having vacation together!" Stef stated back raising her arms up a little and looking over her shoulder to the camp and the kids

"Families?" Jerry questioned Stef's choice of words "I don't see any more men at the camp," he looked around the campsite "I only see Cooper!" he nodded his head towards me

When he returned his gaze back to Stef, Lena and Amy he continued "And you all look so friendly, like I would assume, all sister wives are," Jerry smiled at the three woman

"Babe, he's not worth it!" I heard Lena whisper to Stef, who had looked back at her wife with an irritated look "Let it go, babe,"

Jerry rested his hand on my shoulder blade "Cooper, my man, you are one lucky guy!"

"Stop touching me, man!" I tried to get his hand off me as quickly as possible. Just to make sure, he won't touch me again, I stepped backwards a little increasing the distance between us.

"Which one of you did he marry first?" Jerry asked curiously, when he looked back at the woman "Wait..no, don't tell me! I wanna guess!" He rubbed his hands together and put on his thinking face "Judging by the kids in the background…I would say, you - " He gestured to Lena "are his third wife, based on that little girl in the back," When he turned and pointed towards Amy "You must be the first, right? Which leaves, the spicy blonde your second wife!"

This feeling started to grown in my pit of my stomach. I started to feel the urge to punch some sense into this guy. Every time he opened his mouth, the feeling grew. The feeling must be 10 times worse for the three woman.

"Listen, you sexist dinosaur-" Stef pointed to him taking another step closer to him. I saw how Lena reached out to Stef, grabbed her hand and pulled her back a bit. Stef looked back at Lena upset that she had stopped her from tell the guy exactly what she thought of him.

"We are not married to Cooper!" Lena finally decided to try and clear the air herself as she had interrupted Stef. She slid her hand in Stef's and they interlocked their fingers. Stef glanced down to their hands and they smiled at each other.

"You don't have to lie! I see the rings, ladies!" He raised his hand up and pointed to his own ring. Stef and Lena roll their eyes and shake their heads lightly.

"I understand! I don't judge your life choices," Jerry continued "I know you are married to this man right here! Hell, I would be happy to be in his place right now," Jerry added and once again patted my shoulder

"Dude!" I shoved his hand off me "If you won't stop touching me, I'm going to punch you!" I took another step backwards

"They are married!" Amy tried to explain it to him next "To each other!" she pointed between Stef and Lena

"Well, duh...as sister wives!" Jerry said in complete ignorance, making Amy face palm. Lena and Stef shared another look, now looking amused by his ignorance.

Stef let go of her wives hand "Stef!" Lena tried to stop her wife

"Don't worry. I will be gentle," Stef assured her wife before she turned back to Jerry

She took another step closer to him, bent her arms up and clenched her hands together "I'm gonna put it very simply, because obviously you are not intelligent enough to understand it any other way,"

"You don't have to be mean," Jerry mumbled back quietly

Stef cleared her throat "Heterosexuals!" Stef stated and un-clenched her hands, but kept them raised up

For a moment I was curious as to what Stef's plan was. But then it all all got clear to me, when she showed the universal sign known for having sex with her hands. Stef had extend her right index finger and made a circle with my left hand index and thumb finger. She moved her index finger towards her other hand suggesting the action of man penetrating a woman.

"Now here comes the hard part," she mocked the guy after she stopped the hand motion

"Homosexuals or in this particular case…" Stef leaned a bit closer to him and whispered "Lesbians!" She made piece signs with both of her hands and then moved them together, till her hands were colliding, suggesting a sex position known as scissoring.

As she continued to make the moves with her hand she explained to him "My fingers represent both of the woman's legs," and then added with a smug look on her face "This is one of my favorite position with my wife. Gives us both a lot of pleasure,"

His mouth dropped open at the realization. It took him few seconds till he could stutter out "Wife?" he looked shocked "You're married to...to" his gaze traveled over Stef's shoulder to Lena, who faked a smile at him "to...her?"

"Oh! There you go!" Stef patted his shoulder "You got it!" I was pretty sure he was picturing them kissing in his mind, if not doing the dirty deed

Stef walked back to Lena, slipped her hand in hers and they walked away heading towards the kids. Amy walked off without saying anything to the guy or even giving him one last look back.

I turned to Jerry "Really – sister wives?"

"They looked so friendly...and you're the only man in the group," Jerry replied trying to make excuses, he shrugged his shoulders a little "What else was I suppose to assume,"

"Next time, don't assume!" I gave him a piece of advice before I walked away as well

"His ignorance was amazing. It's like he wasn't listening...or chose to completely ignore it," Amy said astonished, when I walked up to the group, who were now all gathered around the campfire

"You would be surprised how many people like him we have encountered," Lena replied glancing over to her wife by her left side

"Mom?" Frankie spoke up and showed with her hands the exact same gesture, that Stef had shown to the Jerry guy minute ago "What does this mean?"

The older kids all looked to one another, amused. Amy sucked her lips in, trying to hide the smile. Frankie was still so innocent, it was too sweet.

"I'm gonna leave this to you," Lena said with a smirk as she looked to her wife, who had turned to her for help

"Well…ummm..." Stef dragged out, giving herself more time to come up with an answer and explanation to Frankie

"Yeah, Stef, what does it mean?" I teased Stef a bit more, much to her annoyance

Stef narrowed her eyes at me "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"No, not really," I grinned at her

"Mom, what does it mean? Mom!" Frankie repeated louder and continued to do the hand gestured "Mom!"

"Okay!" Stef put her hand over Frankie's stopping her from showing the motion "Let's go a take a walk, honey!" she said placing her hand on Frankie's shoulder and guided her over to the river for a quiet mother-daughter talk

"Never a dull moment with us," Jude said smiling

"Let's start breakfast. We have a big day today!" Lena announced getting everyone to move on and help around the camp

Lena POV

We were back on the water again. This time, I was in the same boat with Duke and Cooper. Duke was lying in between the two seats on the boats ground, breathing heavily and loudly, because of how hot it was. We were careful to always give him enough water to drink so he could cool off.

"Did you ever thought about it?" I inquired as I continued our conversation about his situation with his family's situation

"Of course I thought about it," Cooper replied in low and quiet tone as he continued to row the boat slowly

"And?" I coaxed softly wanting to hear his thoughts and how it all went down

"Well..." Cooper glanced pass me to the boats that were behind us "To me, it never felt like, she has been missing a father figure, you know," I nodded my head back as I listened to him. I did in fact agree with what he just told. To me, Callie never seemed to lack any parent guidance. Amy was covering it all.

"She has her mom and...Amy is more than capable of being her parent," Cooper averted his gaze back to me "I'm okay with the role of her step-father. Besides, we have never been _that_ close. We have more of a friends relationship than a father-daughter one. I'm not saying that I don't love her, I do - I love that kid. But, honestly, I don't think Callie will ever see me as her father. She was almost 17, when I started dating her mother. She was 18, when I married Amy and by that time Amy had already raised her to be the young woman that she is! It doesn't feel like anything is missing, you know. We are comfortable and happy with the way things are now,"

"What does Amy think about all of this?" I asked shifting in my seat a little and stretching my legs out over Duke

"To put it shorty, she told me to figure out what I want. I think she had asked Callie the same thing. Amy didn't want to pressure either one of us to do something we didn't want," Cooper replied

"But Callie did add your surname," I said in a manner, that suggested I wanted to hear an answer or for him to explain the situation

"I think it was more important to match it with her mom's surname," Cooper answered after thinking about it for a short moment "She didn't want to be the one with the different name any more," The name change for Callie happened early this summer, after her studies were over. For a while I thought that she waited so long, because she didn't want to deal with all of the paperwork that would be required if she changed her name mid school year.

"That's understandable. I can relate to that," I nodded my head back "Having the same surname as your kids or as your parents can make a huge difference. Before I married Stef, our kids names were Foster. Mainly because of Brandon's name. We wanted our kids to have the same surname. If we had given them mine, that would have meant that I would have to adopt Brandon, which meant for Mike's parental rights to be taken away. And for a long time, I never told Stef this, but I hated that my name didn't match our kids name. Being questioned whether or not I was their parent..." I shook my head as I remember the one time, a nurse wasn't allowing me to see Mariana, who Stef had taken to hospital, with a very high fever.

"I felt like an outsider," I admitted quietly "Like I wasn't really their parent, but only Stef was,"

"That must have been rough," Cooper said softly, after a little moment he asked "Did I understand it right. You're only Brandon's step-mother?"

"Yes. I never adopted him, because of Mike. On paper, Brandon is my step-son," I explained

"I did not know that," Cooper admitted as he raised the paddles up on the boat and let the river stream control our speed "You are as much as a parent to him as Stef or Mike is!" Cooper assured me

I smile at him kindly "I know,"

Cooper grabbed the metal bowl, which stood somewhere between the bags behind him. He leaned over the boat's side and filled the bowl with the water.

"Here, boy, drink some," He put the bowl on the floor. Duke sat up, swaying and moving the boat in the process and started to drink the water.

"Hmm, I wonder..." Cooper said quietly to himself

"What?" I tilted my head a little to the right as I studied his features

"I put this fake, but very real looking spider in Mariana's bag in which she keeps her sunscreen," Cooper had a mischief look in his eyes "It has been some 3 hours since we took off, so she should be applying a new layer of sunscreen any minu-"

"Ahhh! Oh my god...get it away from me!" Came a loud high-pitched scream from Mariana from the boat behind us. I turned around and saw Mariana, crawling to the end of the boat, on the bags, trying to get as far away from the bag, that was now in Amy's hands. Brandon took the bag from Amy and peaked a look inside.

I turned back to Cooper and saw his smirk "Are you having fun on the behalf of my daughter, Cooper?"

"Yes, yes I am," Cooper grinned back, not denying it for one second

"You have pranked or spooked all of them," I stated and then recalled all the pranks "First day it was Jesus and the toothpaste between the Oreo cookies. The first night it was Brandon and the fake snake in his sleeping bag. Next night you draw fake mustache with a black marker on Jude's face. After that it was Frankie and the scary story and now Mariana and the spider,"

"You forgot I put shaving cream in Callie's hand while she slept and tickled her nose," Cooper reminded me. He was clearly having a blast parking all of the kids.

"Do you honestly think they won't retaliate?"

"Oh, I know they will!" Cooper replied nodding his head "But this is our last day and we are only some 5 hours away from reaching our final destination. I know all of the pranks that there are. I'm prepared. They won't ever get me!" Cooper said fully confident that the kids won't get him

"I would be cautious if I were you," I gave him a fair warning, knowing all too well what the kids were capable of, especially if they all worked together

~o~o~o~

"Hallelujah!" Jesus called out raising his hands up as he stepped out of the boat. He was the first one out. Everyone else was much slower in getting out of their boats to the land.

"You made it!" Cooper's friend Ben, who worked as a bus driver and owned a mini bus, called out as he leaned off the white mini bus and came our way. He was about Mike's height and weight, mid 40ties. Ben was cleaned shaved, he had very short hair – almost bald.

"Did you ever doubt it?" Cooper questioned him as he walked towards him and shook his hand "Good to see you, Ben!"

"Good to see you all in one piece," Ben smiled at us as he came over and helped us with the boats

Ben was the one who drove us to the point, where we started our boating trip. And now few days later, he was the one who was picking us up and also driving us back home to San Diego. With his help, we didn't have to drive in three cars and we could all be in one mini-bus and chat all the way. Neither one has to drive, which can exhausting. The bus was big enough for all 10 of us, Duke and our bags, tents and sleeping bag. Of course we had pitched in and handed him some gas money and something for his troubles as well.

We had eaten the last of our food at lunch 4 hours ago. The decision was unanimously – we are stopping and In-and-out Burger in Placerville on our way back. It took some while to pack every bag in the mini bus and to drive the boats to the drop off place, the same company that we rented them in the first place. After that, our first stop was the In-and-Out Burger place.

We had ordered our hamburgers to go. Once everyone had their food, we walked to the nearest park and sat down at the picnic table to have our supper. It was also a way to stretch our legs, because for the next couple of hours we are going to be driving back to San Diego, which was a long way to go. Ben was planning on making two pit stops along the way, he had no intention to stop driving during night. He was determined to get us to San Diego by the light of dawn.

"This is so good!" Jesus exclaimed with full mouth after his first bite out of his unhealthy, greasy hamburger. He reached for his cola drink and sucked some drink through the straw before taking another huge bite out of his hamburger.

"Please, chew with your mouth closed, Jesus. And don't talk with full mouth," I scolded him lightly before taking a bite out of my hamburger

"Sorry, mama!" Jesus replied after swallowing his food

"This is such a quiet place," Stef observed looking around the park we were in "I love this town!"

"You know what this park reminds me off..." Amy spoke up and then ran her napkin over her mouth and fingers

"No, what?" Stef asked, Cooper watched them both curious

"The time, the first vacation we took together. Remember the two guys that were following us and came up to as at the park," Shivers ran down my spine just remembering that event

"Oh, right!" Stef dragged quietly

"Wait! I don't know this story. What happened exactly?" Cooper asked and both Stef and Amy went into all the details of that day three years ago. Safe to say Coopers attention was on story that was being told.

Looking back at the kids, who were all standing together at the other side of the table, I couldn't help but to notice the mischief look in their eyes. Jude had tapped on Mariana's ear and whispered something to her. Mariana's eyes had grew bigger at the information. She had leaned to Brandon and whispered something to him ear. After a little while, I saw Brandon leaning to Jesus and whispered something, most likely the same thing Mariana whispered to him. The chain of information went through them all. All the kids were informed about whatever Jude had come up with.

Neither Cooper, nor Amy, nor Stef had noticed this interaction between the kids. But I was onto them. They were up to something. Most definitely. Cooper was going to get pranked. That much was clear.

We stayed in the park a little while longer after we all had eaten. The kids threw the flying disk around. Amy and Cooper, just like me and Stef went for a little walk around the park. The kids all stayed together, so I wasn't worried. They were old enough and responsible enough to say alone without adult supervision and watch Frankie. When we got back to the mini-bus, I saw how Mariana handed a little, white plastic bag to Frankie, who took it and walked around the mini-bus out of my sight.

"What are the kids up to?" Stef asked me quietly as we were walking up to the mini-bus

"We don't have to worry about it," I assured Stef "I think they are planning a prank on Cooper,"

"Oh!" Her eyes grew a little "Well, not that surprising actually," Stef replied in a whisper before she called out to them "Hey, guys! Had a good time? Is everyone here?"

"Yeah!" Brandon called back "You are the last ones to arrive!"

When we walked around the mini-bus, we saw that everyone was standing around. Chatting. Cooper was chatting away with Ben by the front of the mini-bus. I saw how Frankie jumped in the back, holding the plastic bag that was handed her by Mariana. That went unnoticed by Cooper.

"Everyone is here?" Ben asked, when he saw us walk up

"Yes, everyone's here!" Stef confirmed

"Okay. Then lets hit the road!" Ben clapped his hands and walked around the front of mini-bus to get to his drivers seat

Cooper had reached for the door handle on the passenger seat up front. Brandon had ran up to him and put hand on the opened doors "Hey, mind if I sit in the front for the first part of the way back?" He looked over to the other kids "Jesus is irritating the hell out of me,"

"I just asked you a question!" Jesus called back sounding a little bit offended

"Yeah...like 10 stupid questions!" Brandon shouted back at him

"It wasn't a stupid question! If a tree falls in the forest where no person is around, does it make sound!"

"Yes, it fucking makes sound!" Brandon snapped back "How many freaking times do I have to tell you!"

"Brandon! Language!" I scolded him. He mouthed back sorry to me.

"How do you know that? If no one is around to hear?" Jesus asked back gesturing with his hands

Brandon turned back to Cooper "Can I?"

"Sure!" Cooper patted Brandon's shoulder and like the rest of us climbed in the backseat

After 2 minutes everyone was settled down and found their spot. Everyone had their pillows and blankets with them for a more comfortable sleeping while on the road.

Brandon was sitting in passenger seat, next to Ben. Duke laid on the floor right in front of the first row. The first row was occupied by Callie and Jude. On the seat that was on the other side of the isle, sat Jesus. Mariana and Frankie, and Cooper sat on the second row. Amy was on the lone seat on our right, but Stef and I were in the double seat in the third row.

Everyone was calm and gotten very sleepy, because of the long day, exhaustion and the fact that we all had full stomachs. I was thankful that neither one of us had to drive and we could just relax. The drive home seemed fast. I dozed off some hour after we drove out. My head was resting on Stef's shoulder, the blanket was covering my left shoulder.

Some while later, felt like about hour or two, I woke up, because I heard giggles.

Glancing to my right, I saw that Stef and Amy were both asleep. Amy's head was pressed to the pillow that was up against window. Stef's head was leaned back to the seat, her mouth was a little bit parted. Looking out the window, I saw that it was slowly getting dark.

But things got more interesting when I looked up front over the second row seats.

While Mariana was sitting in her seat, she exchanged some object with Callie as she whispered to her "Here, try this one!"

Callie grabbed whatever Mariana was handing her, sucked in her lips to suppress the laugh and reached out to Cooper's face. Frankie was standing in the isle reached out to Coopers face, just like Callie had. Jesus was kneeled on his seat, facing the back of the mini-bus, just like Frankie and Callie, he was reaching out to Coopers face. Jude, however, was simply observing the process with a huge grin on his face.

Cooper snored out and shifted a little, making all the kids pull back and hold their breath. They all waited till Cooper settled down.

"Shh!" Jesus put his finger over his lips, before he resumed doing what he did before

"What are you kids doing?" I asked in a whisper, not to wake up others

All the kids turned their heads to me and stopped doing whatever they were doing. When I saw the eye shadow in Callie's hand, the bright red lipstick in Jesus hand, but the blush in Frankie's hand - everything was clear. They were playing a prank on Cooper, putting on make up.

Their eyes darted to one another, wondering who will say something. They all looked a little bit scared that I will ruin their prank.

"You know what, never mind. Carry on!" I smiled at them and sat back in my seat and put my head back on Stef's shoulder smiling to myself about the prank the kids played on Cooper. He had it coming, though.

I had a feeling Jude came up with the idea, Brandon made sure Cooper will be sitting in the back, by asking to take the front seat, Mariana had bought the make up, because I was certain, she hadn't taken any with her on the trip, Frankie sneaked it in the mini-bus and helped Jesus and Callie execute the prank. Together they made the perfect team.

Next time I woke up, it was our first bathroom break. Ben pulled the mini-bus in a gas station to fill up on gas. Everyone piled out of the bus. The kids all went inside gas station to use the bathroom, meanwhile the adults stayed outside for a while longer. The kids and I were all aware of Cooper's make up, but Amy and Stef weren't. So when they saw him, smiling at them, with bright red lipstick, that went a little over his lip, sparkly purple eyes shadow over his left eye, but sparkly green over his right and very overdone blush, they weren't sure what they could say.

Stef and Amy both stared at him for a while, just taking in his appearance. They both were speechless for a long time.

"What?" Cooper asked observing the two woman, who were staring at him

Stef crossed her left hand over her chest, her right went up to cover her mouth, she tilted her head down and averted her look on the ground as she tried to hide the laugh "Nothing,"

"Did a hair fairy visited me?" Cooper tried to smooth his hair down

Both of them shared a look, but when they looked back at Cooper Amy said with a straight face "No, Coop, your hair is fine. You look..." Amy suppressed her laughed "... _great_ , babe!"

When all the kids walked out of the gas station, they came up to us. Cooper wanted to walk off to gas station to use the bathroom, but Callie quickly stopped him

"Hey, lets take a group picture!" Callie said cheerfully looking around

"Can't it wait till after I use the bathroom?" Cooper questioned her

"Ben will want us to leave then. Come on, it will only take a minute!" She replied and hurried to get her camera out of the bag. A minute later she returned with her camera.

"Ben!" I called out waving at him as he was walking out the gas station with his wallet in his hand "Can you come take a picture of us, please?"

"Sure thing!" He agreed without hesitation, Callie handed him the camera and gave him some quick directions

We all stood in front of the mini-bus in two rows, so everyone could be seen. Ben raised the camera up and looked through it. But when he noticed Cooper's face, he slowly lowered it down. I think the kids were all giving him sublet, silent signs to ignore it and just take the picture. Thankfully, Ben didn't comment on Cooper's face and raised the camera back up

"Everyone smile and don't blink!" Ben called. Next second I heard the camera multiple times immortalizing the kids prank on Cooper forever


	5. No easy way out Part I

**AN: I'm sorry it took so long for an update. I'm trying my best to update as often as I can.**

Stef POV

August 17th

The vacation was over. Yesterday was my last day off. It was the same for Amy. I was going to take few more days off to send the twins and Brandon back to universities, but that won't be till the end of August.

I was in the locker room at work, changing into my gym clothes. Amy was by the locker room mirror, braiding her pony tail.

It wasn't often when Amy and I went to the gym. Mostly because we were tiered enough after work, our families waited for us at home, we had other stuff we had to take care of, like grocery shopping or picking up our kids. Basically it was quite rare that we hit the gym. Sure, there have been few times, when going to gym and doing some sparing would be the only thing that would get the steam off after a crazy day at work or something that happened at home, like it had been with Amy, when she and Callie were fighting. That time Amy took all her anger out on the punching bag. Sometimes gym was a nice place to be at.

But today, just like the last two months except the few days that we were away at our vacation, we have been in the gym regularly - every Tuesday and Thursday. After our shift ended we both hit the gym, but we weren't alone. We had Mariana and Callie joining us.

It all started back at the start of the summer, when Amy and I were on a patrol. The day had started like any other day. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened. The only thing that was unlike any other day was that Amy was more quiet than usually. Quite often she looked to be deep in her thoughts.

"Okay...spill it!" I said to Amy after we had driven in silence for 15 minutes. Every time I had tried to start a conversation, Amy had quickly ended it by a hum back, shoulder shrug or her nodding her head back while agreed to all the absolute crap I had asked her about. She was staring out the side window and didn't even do the honor and look at me, when I had spoken to her.

"Huh?" She asked, without taking her eyes off the street

"Whatever it is, that is bothering you," I told her, when I drove out to the street that goes next to the coast side "I'm listening!"

The thoughtful look never left her face. She stared out the side window for couple of more seconds till she finally asked me "Have you ever thought about self-defense classes?"

I frowned up my forehead at that questions "For me?"

"For Mariana," Amy finally turned to me. I shifted a little in my seat and rested my left elbow on door side, my left hand fingers still lightly touched the steering wheel. My other hand was gripping tightly the wheel as we drove down the straight road.

"The thought has crossed my mind few times, but we ended up giving Mariana a pepper spray, when she left for university the first time," I replied and then glanced to her. After glancing to Amy briefly, I figured her out "You want to sign Callie up for self-defense classes?"

"Not really classes, but I was thinking, that maybe I should teach her a thing or two. Just so she would know how to protect herself," Amy explained as she gestured with her hands

"...because of her job?" it took me a moment, but I did realize, why she was talking about it

"It was some two weeks back, when she came home from her internship with driving along the EMT," Amy held her left arm out and gripped her wrist with her right hand "And she had this bruise on her wrist...like someone had gripped her hand," her hands fell down to her lap "When I asked her about it, she said that some druggie didn't want for them to inject medication in his friends body, who was having an a seizure from an overdose. He had gripped her hand and hadn't let go,"

"Whoa," I mumbled quietly

"She's going to be meeting and interacting with a lot of people. And you know how different the people are!" Amy glanced to me "Even the ones, who need help can be aggressive. While some can be calm and polite, and kind...others-" Amy trailed off and only gave me a look

"Yeah, others not so much," I finished for her as I slowed down, because I saw a red light up front at the intersection we were approaching

"And it's not just her job," Amy continued "It's everyday life as well. Walking down the street, going to party or club..." she trailed off

"Yeah...that's the reason why we got Mariana the pepper spray. She's walking around the campus, going to and from her dorm, going to parties," I said back "You can never know what is going to happen. Especially, when it's getting dark and there are less people on street,"

"Anyway," Amy glanced to me "I was thinking maybe I...or we could teach her some self-defense. Mariana too!"

"I actually like that idea. It would help me sleep more peacefully, when Mariana is going to be away at university,"

"So you agree?" Amy asked, her look filled with hope

"Yeah. I agree! Let's teach our girls some self-defense!" I concluded with a big grin

"Now the only thing left is get them to agree," Amy said more quietly

It was then, when we had noticed a car swaying on the road, going right and left, almost crossing the white line to ongoing lane. Amy reached for the radio to call it in, while I hit the sirens on and hit the gas pedal to catch up the car up front.

So here we are now. We have been teaching self-defense for the last few weeks. Thankfully, after time they both started to actually enjoy it.

"Ready?" I asked Amy, when I was done tying my shoes

Amy tied the band around the end of her braid and turned to me "Yes, let's go,"

When we walked in the gym, I saw that Callie and Mariana were already there, dressed up and warming up already. They were both by the far wall, using jumping rope to warm up.

"Hey, you two!" She smiled widely at the two young woman "Glad to see you are already warmed up," Amy said as we walked up to them

Both girls stopped jumping and greeted us. Mariana walked to the bench and grabbed her water bottle, while Callie gripped the jumping rope in her hand.

"Can we take it a bit easier today?" Callie asked her mom, but glanced to me as well

Amy instantly went to worry mode " You feeling okay?"

"Yeah, it's just..." she blushed a little "Cramps. Not feeling so good," Callie replied shyly and looked down to the ground to avoid our looks

"I have ibuprofen in my locker," Amy pointed over her shoulder

"It's okay. Already took some 5 minutes before," Callie replied, when Mariana walked up, holding her water bottle in one hand, but jumping rope in other

"So, what are we doing today?" Mariana asked looking at me, then at Amy

At first Mariana had been totally against the idea of learning self-deference. She was reluctant to come, to participate, slow to do anything, didn't put any effort in it. Callie wasn't that bad. But like Mariana, at first, she didn't seem to like the idea. She thought it was waste of time. Now on the other hand, both of the girls seemed to love these self-defense classes. Maybe it was just me, but they both seemed a little bit more confident. Not to mention they were both in better shape than before.

"We hit the mattresses and..." I said as I walked towards one of the lockers that stood by the side wall

"And?" Mariana had followed me up to it. She peaked a look inside the locker, when I opened it.

"Knifes," I handed one of the knives to Mariana and grabbed another one

"Is this real?" she asked putting her finger to the tip of it. The knifes did look real, but they weren't. No one would get hurt by these.

"No, but it looks real," I replied slamming the locker closed and turning back to Amy and Callie

I handed the other to Callie, who by now had gotten rid of the jumping rope. She examined the knife as well, while I took Mariana's rope and water bottle away from her and carried it over to the bench. Both of the girls were now playing with the knives, stabbing their own hands with it to test how it felt.

"We will look at two scenarios today," Amy spoke up and asked for Callie to give her the knife. She took a step backwards and raised the knife up "If someone comes at you with this stabbing motion," she showed the girls as she spoke raising her hand and the knife her head height "Or if someone tries to slash a knife at you!" Amy extended her arm out and slashed the knife in front of Callie, who had leaned back a bit, when the knife almost touched her

"That looks kind of scary," Mariana observed

"It is scary," I pointed out placing my hand on her shoulder "Lets start with stabbing motion, shall we?" I asked Amy as the four of us walked to the blue mattresses to begin

Callie POV

"Are you sure you are okay, Callie? You have been awfully quiet today," Mom asked, when we were on our way back home after our self-defense class

"I'm good. Like I told you, just having some bad cramps," I replied in as casual tone as I could muster

"Still?" she asked now looking even more worried than before "You took the pain meds two hours ago!"

"I..I didn't mean I still have them," I answered trying to fix my previously made mistake "You know what's it like, mom. Just having a rough day, that's it. Feeling tiered. Just because I'm having a bad day, doesn't mean there something wrong with me,"

"I know, I'm sorry. I just got worried, that if you are having cramps so bad for so long, then something else might be wrong and..." Mom started to ramble fast

"I'm good, mom!" I assured her, placing my hand over hers on the clutch "I promise," I smiled at her, trying to sell it

I hated lying to my mom. But knowing my options, lying seemed like the best option right now. Somehow I just can't bring myself to tell mom. I still couldn't fully wrap my mind around what I had learned myself earlier today.

I was sitting in the waiting room rather impatiently. The black gym bag stood on the ground by my legs. In 2 hours I needed to meet Mariana and head to our moms job, for the self-defense class Amy and Stef have organized for us.

My leg never stopped bouncing up and down and I couldn't stop biting my thumb nail. I kept looking around the room, to the other people. They all seemed so calm, so well put together, except for the young girl, who couldn't be older by 16. She looked just as scared and nervous as I was.

My gaze traveled back to the doors at the other end of the hall. Any minute now I will be called in. Gosh, I hated this place. I hated it so much. Yet at the same time, I knew this was the only place that would give me the answer I need.

When they opened, Dr. Reed walked out with another woman. They went to the front desk and chatted there for a brief moment. Dr. Reed was given a chart. She opened it, read it and then looked around the room till her eyes met mine.

"Callie, come on in," She smiled at me kindly

I grabbed my gym bag from the ground, tossed it over my shoulder and followed the doctor in the room. The nervousness seemed to calm down a little bit, once I was actually in the room, sat down and started to talk to the doctor.

"How have you been, Callie?" She asked as we both sat down. I dropped by bag once again on the ground, while the Dr. Reed took my chart and read over the last entry from last appointment I had.

"Good," I replied placing my hands in my lap and keeping my eyes on the chart she was reading

"I see that the last time you were here, was back in January, for your annual check up. Everything seemed to be perfectly good," she said and looked up from the chart to me "So," she smiled kindly at me "Can you tell me, what brings you here today? Are you having any complaints? Any concerns?"

"I think I might be pregnant," I told my doctor and then started to ramble fast "I missed my period two weeks ago. At first, I thought it was because of the stress from the trip we were planning. But my boobs feel weird, I'm tired very often, there are certain food smells that never bothered me before, but are bothering me now..." I reached down, unzipped the pocket at the side of my gym bag and pulled out a positive pregnancy test I took this morning "This shows positive,"

Dr. Reed reached out and placed her hand gently on my knee "Okay. Everything's going to be okay, Callie," She assured me calmly "We will check it out. You can put the test away,"

As I was putting it back in my gym bag, Dr. Reed asked me "You are how many days late now? When was the last period you had?"

"Um...well, it should have started on the 2nd of August, but it didn't. The last time I had my period was um...around July 6th,"

"So that puts us," Dr. Reed put her pen to the calendar and counted the day "15 days late," she said as she wrote it down

"When was the last time you had intercourse with your boyfriend?" she asked without looking up to me as she was still writing notes in my card

"Ex-boyfriend. We broke up," I quickly explain

Dr. Reed looked up to me and said sincerely "Sorry to hear that,"

"That's fine. It was mutual," I recalled as I was picking my finger nails "Last time we had...uh...sex was July 13th..if I recall correctly. We broke up some 2 weeks after that,"

"That puts you roughly around 5 weeks pregnant," She turned to me and smiled "Let's have a look then. Lay down on the table, please, and roll your shirt up," I complied, nodding my head back. In few seconds I will now the truth. I was beyond nervous.

I laid down on the table and held my shirt up with both of my hands. While I was getting comfy on the table, she calibrated the ultrasound machine to match my data.

"This will be a little cold," she warned before she squirted some of the gel to my stomach. It really was cold. I flinched a little, when it hit my bare skin.

"Okay, let's see," Dr. Reed said as she put the ultrasound to my stomach and scanned to find the right angle and location to see. I looked to the screen as I waited for the verdict.

"Oh, and here it is! Congratulations," Dr. Reed said as she pointed to the screen. My eyes grew bigger and my mouth dropped parted in shock. It actually was happening. I was pregnant. The thought that scared me the most was that I didn't know how I was feeling about it. I wasn't exactly happy, like normal people would be. Most importantly, I had no idea what I will do next.

Dr. Reed did some measurements of the scanned image and confirmed "Seems about 5 weeks old. I will print this out for you,"

She took the ultrasound off my stomach and handed me some paper towels to wipe the gel off. When I had cleaned off myself and was sitting on the exam table, she handed me the scan.

Holding the image in my hand and looking down to it, I admitted quietly "I don't know what to do. We used protection all the time. I wasn't planning on getting pregnant," A lone tear fell down "I don't know what to do!"

Dr. Reed reached out and touched my arm gently to give me some support.

"Callie!" I felt my mom touch my arm gently "Did you hear me?"

"What?" I turned to her, not sure what she had asked me "Sorry. No. What were you saying?"

"I asked if you want anything in the store. We will be up to the last store in a minute. I can buy you your favorite chocolate if you want," Mom smiled at me

"Chocolate sounds good," I returned the smile and continued to think about the choice I had to make, presumably in the next few days

When we got back home, I went straight to my room. As I was passing the living room, I glanced towards it and greeted Cooper, who was lounged at the couch watching a game "Hey! Who's winning?" I needed to act as I would if everything was okay, so mom or Cooper wouldn't get anymore ideas about me

"Hey, kiddo! Red Sox!" Cooper called back "How was your self-defense class!"

"Mariana stabbed me in my boob with a fake knife!" I answered walking to the stairs, I heard him laugh at that

I had just reached the stairs, when mom called after me "Your chocolate baby!"

I turned around and saw Amy holding it up. In a quick pace, I hurried back to mom, grabbed the chocolate and kissed her cheek "Thanks, mom! Love you!"

"Mhmm. Love you too!" Mom replied right before I turned around and hurried upstairs

Before going to my room, I stopped at the bathroom and I cleaned out my gym bag, putting all the gym clothes in the laundry basket. When I got to my room, I closed the bedroom doors behind me. I opened the chocolate box and put it on the nightstand. After that, I sat on my bed and opened the small department inside the gym bag and took out the ultrasound picture of my baby. Grabbing the chocolate box, I sat on the bed so that my back would be against the wall.

I tossed one of the chocolate in my mouth and looked down to the ultrasound. This all still seemed surreal to me. I felt numb, I was still in shock, I still couldn't fully wrap my head around the fact that there was a baby growing in me.

I had a big and hard decision to make - keep the baby, give birth to it, but hand him or her over to adoption, or make an abortion. There was no easy way out of it. They were all hard choices.

I just hope I can make the right one and not regret it later on.


	6. No easy way out Part II

Mariana POV

August 18th

It was an early morning, when my phone buzzed loudly on the nightstand signaling me that I have received a message. Groaning, because I was woken up, I rolled on my right side, so I could reach for my phone that was on the nightstand, all while cursing whoever was texting me this early. Summer was the time, when I could sleep in. There are only few days left in this summer, before I have to return back to university and start to attend the morning classes. Right now, whoever was texting me was ruining my today plan – sleep till at least 10 AM.

Unlocking my phone I saw that I had received a text from Callie – **_I need to talk to you!_ **

I rolled on my back, holding the phone up above my head I typed her a message back – _**Can't it wait? It's too damn early…I want to sleep in!  
**_

While I waited for her reply, I put the phone down on my chest, clenched my hands on my stomach and closed my eyes, hoping to fall back asleep. But Callie's reply came almost instantly - **_No, it can't wait! It's important. Please, Mari!_ **

**_Ugh...fine_ – ** I replied her as I yawned.

Once again, her reply was fast – _**Our usual spot? Coffee shop on River street?**_

I put the phone on the side of the bed, while I rubbed my eyes trying to fully wake up. All of a sudden a pillow hit my face, which stunned me for a second "I'm trying to sleep here!" Frankie barked at me half-asleep in angry tone from her bed. She lowered her head back at the pillow, when I glanced to her.

"Then sleep!" I threw the pillow back at her. The pillow hit her side. Frankie grabbed the pillow and put it back in the corner, where it stood before.

"Stop texting!" she muttered angrily and turned on her other side, putting her head on the pillow that she had just put back down.

"Just go back to sleep, Frankie!" I replied now sat up in the bed. Quickly I typed back to Callie - **_Okay. But you are buying, for dragging me out of my bed this early in Summer!_ **

I set the phone down on the nightstand and started to make my bed. I was fluffing up the pillow, when my phone vibrated loudly on the nightstand. When I reached for my phone, once again pillow hit me in my face. It fell down to the floor. I turned to Frankie to give her an unimpressed look. Frankie was pressed up on her right hand and was glaring at me.

"It's not my fault people text me!" I reasoned back as I bent down and picked up the pillow that was thrown at my face

"It's your phone!" Frankie replied as I set Frankie's pillow on my bed and finished making my bed "At least turn the volume and vibration off!" she muttered as she laid her head back down and pulled her blanket to her chin

"Go back to sleep," I decided not to argue with my little sister and reached for the phone to read Callie's message - **_Of course. 30 min?_ **

_**See you there**_ – I returned a message and walked over to the dresser to get some clothes. As quietly as I could, not to disturb Frankie, I got dressed and then went to bathroom.

Few minutes later I was dressed up and walked into the kitchen, to look for the keys to the car. Moms were both sitting at the kitchen table, drinking their morning coffee, eating breakfast and chatting about their plans for the day. Mom was dressed in her uniform as she had job today, because her vacation was over. Mama wakes up with her every morning to send her off and to make sure she has company at breakfast.

"Morning moms!" I greeted them as I was walked in

"Whoa, good morning Miss Thing," mom greeted me cheerfully and somewhat surprised "You are up early,"

"Morning, baby," Mama lowered her coffee cup down "You do know that it isn't even 9, right?"

"Yeah, I know," I said walking over to the kitchen table and taking the last of the apple slice that was on moms plate "Callie texted me. She wants to meet up,"

"Is she coming over or are you going over to her place?" Lena asked while mom was watching me, how I ate the stolen slice of apple

"Neither," I shook my head "We are going to meet up at a coffee shop," I took another bite of the apple slice "Have you see the car keys?"

"What's the rush? Why does she need to speak to you this early?" mama asked curiously while mom narrowed her eyes to glare at me

"No idea," I shrug my shoulders and briefly glanced to mom, whose eyes I still felt on me. Shortly after I returned my gaze back to mama, ignoring moms staring "She didn't say," I tossed the last of the apple in my mouth

"I think I saw the keys in the bowl," mama pointed to the island table answering my previous question

"That was my apple," Mom stated finally expressing the reason why she had been glaring at me for the past minute "You ate my apple," mom then glanced to mama and pointed to me "Mari ate my apple!"

"I will cut you another one," mama said placing a gentle hand over moms palm. I smirked at moms, before I walked over to the island table to look for the car keys. I found the keys where mama said they were.

"Bye moms!" I took the keys out from the bowl and waved at them

"Bye, baby. Drive safe. Say hi to Callie from us," moms spoke over each other

"I will," I said leaving the kitchen "Love you!" I called from the hallway. Of course, I received "Love you too!" back from both of my moms

~o~o~o~

I was not surprised that, when I arrived at the coffee shop, Callie was already sitting at the small table with two cups in front of her. Callie looked exhausted and deep in her thoughts. She had dark circles under her eyes. Right now, Callie was nursing one of the cups in both of her hands. I could tell she was nervous, because she was ripping the label of the cup in her hands. Small pieces of paper surrounded the cup.

"Hey!" I greeted, when I walked up to the table

Callie quickly snapped out of her thought and jumped up to give me a quick hug as a greeting back "Thanks for coming," she said as we both sat down at the table

"This is yours," Callie pushed one of the cup closer to me "I ordered the way you like it," she smiled at me

"Thanks. Smells good!" I felt the coffee aroma in the air. I started to drink coffee after I started university. Now, I can't start my day without one cup in the morning. During exam time, I drink more, but only during exam time, when I need to stay up and study.

I sipped the coffee before I spoke up "So...what was so important that it couldn't wait till later?"

"I need you to promise me that you won't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you," Callie said in a hushed voice as she leaned a bit closer to me

"If it's some juicy gossip, you know I can't promise anything," I said jokingly and lifted the cup again to my lips

"Mariana!"

"Okay, okay. I promise!" I said it so Callie would leave it alone

"I'm serious! You can't tell anything to your moms, siblings, friends and especially my family, my mom! No one else can know! This has to stay between us!" Callie insisted in a very serious tone. She looked like she had no jokes on her mind. Actually, now that I observed her closer, it seemed like she was truly desperate.

"I promise!" I repeated this time more serious and actually meaning it "Callie, you are scaring me a little. What's going on?"

Callie turned and reached into her bag, that was hanged on the chair. She dug through it, looking for something. When she found it, Callie held the object down to her lap, for now hiding it from me. The way she was looking down to me, made me fear the worse and it made my heart beat faster in my chest.

"Callie?" I encouraged her "What's going on?"

She looked up to me scared. Slowly she raised her hand up and placed a small paper on the table, white side up and slid it closer to me. I reached for it, briefly looking down to it, but then gazed back at the scared Callie, who sat opposite side of the table.

"Remember, you promised," She reminded before I turned the paper around

As I turned the paper around, my eyes widened seeing an ultrasound picture of a baby. In the corner I saw Callie's name written. My eyes darted up to Callie, who now looked petrified about my reaction

"You are pregnant!" I said out excited

Callie didn't sound excited at all "Yeah," she dragged out. I got the feeling that Callie might not be happy at all about this little human being growing inside her, so I tried to contain the excitement.

I averted my eyes back at the ultrasound as Callie started to explain "I found out yesterday. I'm about 5 weeks in. No one else beside you knows," Callie leaned closer to me and reminded me "And you can't tell anyone!"

"Don't worry. The secret is safe with me," I promised her. Callie looked grateful for that. She looked even relieved.

"Why don't you want anyone to know?" I asked a moment later not fully understanding her reason, still keeping the image between my fingers

"Because..." She leaned back and ran both of her hands over her face, once her hands fell down to her lap she finished "I'm still not 100% sure know how I feel about it! Everyone would have questions, but I wouldn't know what to tell them! It would just give me an anxiety attack!" Callie now looked like an emotional mess. I have never seen Callie looking so confused and so scared at the same time. It seemed like she was still in shock herself.

She leaned back to the table, pressed her elbows to it and put her face in her palms.

"Is Gavin the father?" I asked looking up to her

"Of course!" She replied in slightly raised voice, sounding a bit offended by my question "You know I haven't seen or gone out with anyone else since me and Gavin broke up!"

"I'm sorry...I just wanted to be completely sure..."

Callie leaning back to her chair once again all while running her hands though her hair. I set the ultrasound picture down and slid it back to her. She took it and now held in her own hands, looking down it as she sightly shook her head, like still not believing this was happening.

"Have you told him?"

"No," She answered without raising her eyes up "I haven't. I'm not sure if I should...we aren't together anymore. It's no longer his business, it's not his problem..." she trailed off and repeated quietly "We aren't together anymore,"

"But he's the baby father. Shouldn't he have the right know?"

"I don't know," Callie replied weakly and it looked like she truly didn't know. This is the first time I have seen Callie looking so lost and confused as to what to do.

"I needed to tell someone," She admitted keeping her eyes on the baby ultrasound "I couldn't tell my mom,"

"Why not?" I asked softly curious about it. Callie and Amy had amazing relationship. To me it always seemed like they could tell each other everything.

"How could I?" Callie looked up to me with tears in her eyes "Her son died. Her husband died. She had an early miscarriage few years ago..." It was news to me about Amy miscarrying, but I screwed up my face at confusion not because the news of Amy's miscarriage, but because I didn't understand, how that mattered

"What does it have to do with anything?"

"She lost her family and there was nothing she could do about it. She had no choice. None. Mom was so heartbroken…so hurt," a tear rolled down her cheek, but she never did take her eyes off me "I have a choice. I can decide this babies faith. But how can I tell her about this baby, when I'm thinking about...aborting it,"

"What?" my mouth parted at those last words

"She would never look at me the same way. I will be a monster in her eyes!"

"She won't!" I said trying to reassure her, but in my mind I was still shocked about Callie's choice on my own "She loves you!"

"She won't once I tell her," Callie wiped the tears away from her cheeks and set the ultrasound on the table. For a moment Callie stared down to the picture.

I looked at it from across the table as well. I hadn't noticed Callie looking up, but a moment later I heard Callie say "You see me as a monster as well,"

My eyes snapped up to her "No…no, I don't!"

"Yes you do," new set of tears rolled down her cheeks "I see it in your eyes. You're thinking how can I possibly be thinking about killing..." she chocked up on her words "...about killing my own baby,"

"Callie!" I reached over the table and gripped her left hand in mine "I don't see you a monster. I'm simply surprised. That's all. It's a lot to process, you know," I smiled sadly at her "I love you and nothing will ever change that. I'm here for you and I'm going to support you, no matter what you choose!"

"You mean it?" Callie asked weakly, sounding so unsure and scared

"Yes, I mean it!" Callie managed a small smile back. She looked relieved that I still got her back

"Are you completely sure, you want to do abortion?" I asked, but then quickly added "I ask because I want to hear your thoughts, not to judge or to talk you out of it!"

"I thought about it ever since I found out. Didn't close my eye for a minute because of it last night," Callie started to open up "I know it will sound bad, but...I don't want a baby. Not right now. I'm not saying that I won't want one later, but right now...I really don't want a kid! I'm not ready to be a parent!"

"That's understandable," I agreed "You're only 20. Your whole life is ahead of you,"

Callie nodded her head back "Right?" she agreed "Not to mention, that I couldn't even support the baby financially on my own. I haven't even started my job yet. It may sound a bit selfish, but I want to think about me, first. I can't wait to start my new job and build my career. If I decide to keep this baby, I won't be able to. It will put my life on hold. I'm still living at home, with my mom. Gavin and I are no longer together, which would mean, the baby would grow up in broken home, but I don't want that for a kid,"

"You don't know how Gavin will react," I pointed out carefully

"Parents got together, because the mother was knocked up," Callie stated "It would be forced...It's not right! I want my kid to have a family, not live with mother and once or twice a week see his father."

"Have you thought about giving the baby up to adoption?" I threw the idea out there just to make sure, she has thought about that option as well

"You and me both know what it's like being a foster kid and what it's like to be in the system. To wonder why your parents didn't love you enough to keep you and take care of you. I don't want that for my kid," Callie replied and I couldn't agree with her more. Sometimes I still have the abandonment issues I got because of Ana. Jesus, Jude, Callie, me and even Brandon - we all have some sort of issues, because of our birth parents. I wouldn't want my kid to suffer like that as well.

"I'm sure mom and Cooper would help you raise the baby, if you decide to keep it!"

"I don't doubt it for a second, but…it wouldn't be right to make them raise the baby, while I'm away at work and trying to build my life. I want to raise my own kid. I want my mom to be the grandmother, who spoils the kid like crazy, not the grandmother, who raises the kids!"

"Seems like you truly have thought this through," I said "Have you made an appointment yet?

"Not yet," Callie answered "I'm still…thinking it over, because I don't want to make wrong choice. But, right now, abortion seems the way to go..." We sat in silence for a little while, just thinking about all that we had disscussed

"Mari?" Callie asked, breaking the silence between us, looking right to my eyes "If I decide to go through with the abortion...would you come with me? I don't want to be alone," She asked warily, looking scared once again

I gripped her hand tighter "Of course I will!" I assured her "You are going to get through this,"

 **AN: So, I'm well aware of how sensitive this subject is. Generally, people are either strictly against it or support woman's choice. I know, some are probably angry with me about writing such story line, but keep in mind that it's only a story and it's only a fictional character (It's not your mom, sister, daughter, friend etc) Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but ,please, keep it civil.**

 **There are two main reasons why I decided to go this way:**

 **1)Like always - diversity. As far as I know, there have only been stories about Callie keeping her baby, raising it with the help of her family. I want to explore how abortion affects a persons life. In my opinion, abortion is not the easy way out as some may think. As the chapter title says - there is no easy way out. No matter what a woman decides to chose - it affects her life.**

 **2)At this moment, Callie is neither financially, nor emotional ready to raise a kid. She's barely an adult, she hasn't started her job, she's no longer in a relationship with the baby's father, she still lives at home. To conclude, she's simply not ready to be responsible for another small human being that needs a lot of attention, care and time! Because of her bad experience in foster care, she doesn't want to put her child in the system. I think, for Callie, right now, abortion makes the most sense.  
**

 **Wishing you all a good day and hoping you don't hate me,**

 **meyouthem123**


	7. No easy way out Part III

Callie POV

Mariana and I ended up spending the whole day together. We sat in the cafe for another hour, just talking about my options and all the possible ways each choice could affect me. But once we left the cafe, Mariana helped me escape from the situation I was in for few hours as we simply spent day together, walking, laughing, shopping – like we sometimes use to do. Just a girls day out. It was probably what I needed the most. Few hours to clear my head. To not think for a while.

We were now sitting on a park bench, with ice cream cones in our hands. Ice cream was melting, because of how hot the day was. We had to eat them pretty fast, otherwise it would all drip down on our hands and clothes.

Mariana had two small shopping bags by her left side. She bought a new top and a swimsuit. I, on the other hand, finally bought new set of strings for my guitar. Few days before our camping trip, the Adams Foster gang had come over to our place for a BBQ and I ended up trying to teach Frankie basics of how to play guitar. She accidentally broke a guitar string, while I had taken a bathroom break.

"Do you want a ride back?" Mariana asked and licked the melting ice cream from the bottom of the cone

"No, I think I'm going to walk," I replied and tossed the last of my ice cream in my mouth

"You sure? It's quite the walk from here,"

"It will be good for me. I'll have some time to think everything through one last time," Mariana ate the last of her ice cream and then wiped her hands in a wet wipe, that she got out of her purse. She cleaned her hands off quickly and tossed the wipe out to the bin that was at the end of the bench.

"My advice to you remains the same – talk to your mom," Mariana said placing her hand over mine

I sighed deeply and looked out to the park, squinting my eyes a little because of the bright Sun "If the roles were reversed, I would probably tell you the same thing,"

Even though we are close, like sisters, and we love each other like family, neither one of us can replace our moms. I need my mom and Mariana knows that. I know that as well, the problem with telling mom is that I'm afraid. Afraid to disappoint her. Afraid that, knowing all that she's been through, that she won't understand my choice and won't be there for me. But going through this without her, scared me more.

Amy has always been there for me and looked out for me, since the day we met. She was the only one that ever visited me, while I was in Juvie, even though I told her each time that I don't want her there and that I hated her for arresting me. We went through thick and thin together. I can't imagine standing up to Liam, without my mom being there for me. She was there with me, when I met my biological dad. Mom was the one that helped me look for Jude. The list goes on and one. Amy has proven to me over and over that she has my back and will support me no matter what. She showed me what unconditional love is.

"That doesn't mean I'm not here for you," Mariana assured me, gently moving her thumb over my palm "Whatever you need. I'm a call away. Always!"

I looked back at her and smile at her, showing my gratitude "I know. Thank you for that and thank you for today!" I leaned towards her and hugged her. Mariana wasted no second to hug me back.

~o~o~o~

I ended up walking home taking the long way. It gave me time to think about how I will going to break the news to my mom. Just thinking about my speech in my head, made my heart beat faster and my palms to get sweaty. That's how nervous as I was.

When I finally got home, it was around dinner time. I heard some noises coming from the kitchen. Walking in, I found my mom cutting tomatoes. The whole kitchen table and counter was covered in different ingredients. There was a pan with dough spread all across it on the counter next to the stove. On the table there was a half of cheese, the other half of cheese was grated up in a bow. I saw a sausage, jar of pickles as well as bottle of ketchup.

Mom was alone, which was exactly what I needed. Only the two of us.

"Hi, mom!" I greeted her cheerfully as I approached her "What are you making?"

"Hi, honey!" Mom smiled as she looked up at me "Tonight we will have homemade pizza!" she announced happily as she gestured around the kitchen table to all of the ingredients "What did you do the whole day?" Mom asked as she resumed cutting the tomatoes

"Oh, uh...just hang out with Mariana," I said walking closer to the table "How was work?" I made small talk because I was chickening out on actually starting the conversation about me being pregnant

"Caught a thief!" she beamed at me

"Oh! Nice!"

"Right?" She smirked back "And guess who we wrote speeding ticket today!" mom stopped cutting and stood up straight

I thought about it for a while, but as I had no clue what so ever, I answered "No idea. Who?"

"Connor Stevens!"

I hadn't heard that name in years. Jude and Connor broke up, shortly after Connor moved to Los Angles to live with his mom. That was some 2 years ago. The break up hit Jude pretty hard. Connor was his first love after all, but ,sadly, young love rarely last long. Few weeks after the break up Jude was back to being his old self. He stopped being grumpy and sad and resumed to live his young life to the fullest -meeting new people, going to parties, hanging out with his friends.

"What? He's back in San Diego?" I exclaimed out surprised

"Apparently," mom replied with a small shoulder shrug "He was with another boy. Could be his new boyfriend,"

"Does Jude know?" I questioned as I pulled the chair, which stood at the end of the table, out

"I'm not sure. Stef probably told him, when she got home," Mom resumed cutting the tomato

"Wow," I breathed out as I slowly sat down at the table "I should probably give him a call later…"

"Mm-hmm," Mom hummed back agreeing

But despite the news about Connor, I still had to share the big news with my mom, that I don't want to put off any longer. If I don't tell her today, I doubt I will be able to bring the subject up later on. A minute passed with me simply sitting at the table and mom making supper as I prepare myself to telling mom about my news.

"Mom," I said getting moms attention, she raised her head up to look at me "I need to tell you something-" I started, but was interrupted by Cooper, who called out from hallway

"We need to change the filter in bathroom, honey," Moms attention was taken away from me "I cleaned the water filter yesterday, but the water flow is pretty bad already," Cooper said as he walked in the kitchen, his hair was a bit wet

 _So much for telling mom now_ – I thought to myself as I look over my shoulder to Cooper

"Oh, hey!" Cooper said seeing me sitting at the table. He placed his hand on my shoulder and looked down to me "Now that you're here," he smiled at me "Can you tell your mom that we need to add pineapple to our pizza?"

"You know I hate Pineapple on pizza," I retorted

"You barely even tasted it last time!" Cooper tried to persuade me "You got to give it another try!"

"No! I ate a whole slice of pizza with pineapple on last time. It was horrible!" I replied with a smirk "I hated every bite. No way I'm going to allow you to destroy pizza again!"

"I told you!" mom said to Cooper with a huge grin "Honey, you wanted to tell me something..." she turned back to me, but it was too late. The moment has passed.

"It's nothing. Just something Mariana told me. No biggie!" I brushed it off as I stood up

"Oh...okay," I heard mom sigh after me as I walked out of the kitchen

After dinner, we all settled down in the living room and watched TV together for few hours. It was a quiet evening at home, which is usually what I loved the most, but today the fact that I couldn't get mom alone was troubling more and more. I went upstairs first, had a quick shower, brushed my teeth. By the time, when I was in PJ, I heard mom walk upstairs. She disappear in bathroom for a while.

Walking out to the hallway, I heard the TV still running downstairs. Cooper might be still be watching some movie, so I might just get enough time alone with mom after she comes out from bathroom. I went back to my room and sat down on the bed, while I waited for mom. From the top drawer, I took out the ultrasound and looked at it for a while.

It still amazed me that this little human being is growing inside of me. At 5 weeks a tiny heart starts to beat. Doctor said it's the size of a sesame seed right about now. It will soon be 6 week old. By that time nose, mouth and ears start to take shape, intestines and brain are starting to develop. Week later hands and feet start to emerge form the developing arms and legs. It's amazing - the growth of the baby. Fascinating. A true miracle. But ,unfortunately, this little life isn't bringing me the happiness that it usually does to other woman. I wished this hasn't happened, because I didn't want to be put in this spot, where I had to make this decision.

I thought about it for a long time. Really, really thought about it. About all the ways a baby would affect my life. I have made my choice. And even thought it's a hard choice, one that many people would judge me and hate me for it, it's the right choice for me. This baby won't grow much bigger, because I have made my final choice – I will do an abortion. One day, I would love to have a little boy or girl, but that time is not now.

I heard doors opening or was it closing. Followed by footsteps leading to the master bedroom. Moms footsteps. It was time. I had to do it now or I would never be able to tell her.

I set the ultrasound image back in the drawer and got up from the bed. Once I was to my closed bedroom doors, I took few calming breaths before I opened the doors and walked out to hallway.

The doors to moms bedroom were open. I heard her walk around, even saw a little glimpse of her through the partly open bedroom door.

 _You'll need her! You have to tell her_ – I told myself as I found myself hesitating once again

I used the fraction of second of courage that I had gotten to march over to my moms room. I'm not even sure if I knocked, but I found myself standing one foot in moms bedroom the next second. Mom was standing with her back turned to me, with bare back and PJ pants on by the bed. She pulled her light grey SDPD issued t-shirt over her head.

"Hey," she said as she turned to me and adjusted her shirt

Because I hadn't said a word back, but was just standing there, staring at her, she walked closer to me "Everything okay?"

I watched how she came up to me, concern in her eyes. The urge to cry came over me. All I wanted was for her to hug me and tell me that everything is going to be okay. But all I did was suck in my lower lip and look down to the floor as I was too afraid to seek her comfort right now, because I didn't know she would feel about my decision.

"No," I whispered out slowly and lightly shaking my head, almost choking up

"What's the matter, honey?" Mom placed her hands on my upper arms

"Stupid commercials! Can't watch a movie without a commercial every 5 minutes," Both of our attention was averted to Cooper, who had just walked inside the bedroom

"Ugh!" I groaned in frustration that Cooper once again ruined my time alone with mom "Can't you ever just give me a minute alone with my mom!" I snapped at him and stormed pass him out of their room, in the process I even bumped into him with my shoulder

I headed straight to my room, slamming the doors behind me loudly. It felt like the house shook a bit from the force. As I sat down on the bed, I started to cry. Not sure why. I might have been simply overwhelmed by everything that was happening. Maybe it was the fact that I was still hiding this huge secret from the one person that I need the help from the most. Hiding my face in my palms I leaned down as the tears fell down my cheeks.

"What!?" I yelled out as I sat up straight taking my hand away from my face, when I heard a knock on the doors

Mom peaked her head in. I ran my hands over my cheeks, trying to hide the fact that I had been crying.

"May I come in?" she asked warily

"Is Cooper going to march in here as well?" I snapped back

"No," Mom replied instantly as she stood in the door. Her voice was firm, but at the same time soft.

I averted my look down and sniffed back "Then yes,"

Mom came up to my bed and sat down next to me. She wrapped her right arm around my back and pulled me to her side. I lowered my head to her shoulder and wrapped my hands around her stomach. We sat like that for few minutes. I sniffed few times as I was still trying to calm myself down. Mom kissed my head couple of times as she simply held me.

"What's going on Callie?" Mom coaxed gently after what felt like 5 minutes

I glanced up to mom and looked to her eyes for a while. There was so much love and concern in her eyes. Her right hand moved up to my head and she stroked my hair for couple of times.

"I'm 5 weeks pregnant and I'm going to do an abortion," the words simply came out of me. I was no longer scared. No longer afraid of what she will say, how she will feel. It felt good to finally let her know what was going on with me. I felt relief. No longer I had to lie to mom.

Mom took in a deeper breath right after I dropped the bomb. Her fingers, that were pressed to my upper arm, squeezed into my skin a bit deeper from the shock, but her left arm briefly stopped stroking my held the breath for a second or two, but her eyes never left mine.

I didn't say anything else, because I wanted for the shock, that she was in, to pass. She needed to process the news. It takes time. It took me hours, if not a whole day. I remember, when I dropped the news bomb on her about the fact that I wanted to become a paramedic. She had just sat on the couch for few seconds, just processing the news.

Mom tilted her head down. Her right arm was still wrapped around me, but she lowered her left hand down to my lap and took my hand.

The sign, that the initial shock passed, came when the questions started to come "Is Gavin the father?" she asked looking back to my eyes. Mom didn't seem angry or disappointed in me. She was calm, but I got a very serious vibe from her.

"Yes," I was planning to stick with the one word answer as long as I could

"Does he know?"

"No,"

"Are you going to tell him?"

"I don't think so. We are no longer together. It's my body. My choice."

"When did you found out?"

"Two days ago. I had an appointment with Dr. Reed few hours before our self-defense class," Mom nodded her head back and paused the questions for few seconds

"Have you thought about the other options?" she asked next looking right to my eyes

"I have," I confirmed briefly glancing down to our hands "It's the only thing I thought about ever since I found out - about my options and how each of them would affect my life!" I stated back as I looked back at moms eyes "I don't want a kid right now. I'm not ready to be a parent. The responsibility..." I trailed off as I started to slowly shake my head "What I want right now, is to think about me. I want a career. I want to make something of myself. In few years, when I'm ready for it and want it, I would love nothing more to bring a child into this life. But not right now, not when I'm..forced to, because of a stupid condom that didn't do it's stupid work!" a small and brief smile appeared on moms lips "And you know I can't give this baby up for adoption. I won't be able to sleep at night,"

"So, you're _completely_ sure, that abortion is the way you want to go?"

"Yes!" I said confidently. I knew this was the right choice for me.

"Have you set an appointment?"

"Not yet, but I will call tomorrow,"

The next second I got very timid. Mom saw that and moved her hand up to my face, to run her fingers fondly over some hair that went around my ear. She tilted her head a little bit to her left, to have a better look into my eyes.

"Mom, will you come with me?" I asked gazing to her eyes

Her answer came without any hesitation at all "Of course I will," She placed her hand on my left cheek as she kissed my right temple. I leaned my head back to moms shoulder, seeking comfort from her again.

"Everything will be okay," Mom whispered to me as she pulled me a bit closer to her side

August 22nd

"Like I mentioned before, there are two possible ways we can do the abortion," Dr. Reed explained to us. In my lap were the booklets about abortion that I read in the waiting room, while I waited for my time.

"Option one – I can do dilation and curettage or as it's called and more knows as D&C," I nodded my head back, knowing that acronym and what it stands for and at the same time, showing my doctor that I was listening to her

"It's a brief surgical procedure," I glanced to mom quickly. Her eyes were on the doctor as she was listening carefully to everything she was saying. Word - surgical - made it sound like a very serious, long, painful procedure during which I would be exposed and very vulnerable.

"During this procedure, you would lie on your back on an exam table. Your heels would rest in stirrups, like during a pelvic exam. I would then put special instruments - rods –into your opening to gradually dilate your cervix," she continued to explain and with the end of the pen, gestured to the anatomy image that was on the table to give us a better understanding. I cringed a little as she explained the dilation part. Mom reached over to me, grabbed my hand and squeezed it, feeling and probably deep down knowing, how badly that scared me. It did not sound comfortable or pleasant at all. Just trying to picture the procedure in my head, made parts of my body hurt.

"Once your cervix would be adequately opened, I would take either a spoon-shaped instrument, called a currete or a suction device to remove the uterine tissue," Dr. Reed continued to speak in the same gentle and slow manner

At least my doctor was very understanding. I had read up on internet about some woman experiences about abortion. Some wrote that their doctors were not being very nice. Others felt judged by the medical staff, but few woman had been told by a doctor and other people in their lives that they're making a huge mistake, like they had known what is better for them.

"How long would it take?" My mom asked what I was thinking

"The procedure takes around 15-30 minutes," Dr. Reed answered looking briefly to my mom, but at the end focusing her look on me as I was the one who would actually have to endure it

My mouth got real dry, real quick right before I asked my question "Would it hurt?"

"For this procedure you would receive anesthesia so you wouldn't feel pain or discomfort," Dr. Reed replied, calming me down with that answer

"What about the side effects?" Mom had this look in her eyes and her voice tone sounded a bit different – that's how I knew she was in super mom mode. I first saw it, when she took me to my first psychologist visit few years back. Another occurrence, when she was in mom mode was, when she was asking Cooper, at that time only my physical therapist, all sorts of questions about the recovery of my then broken arm.

"Possible side effects are cramping and light bleeding or spotting. It would last for few weeks. It's rare, but there have been cases, when the cervix is damaged or the uterus is perforated. Like with any surgery there is a possibility of getting infection," She explained

"And what about the chances of Callie getting pregnant later on? Does this procedure in any away affect that?" Mom was now asking the real question. This was probably something that I wouldn't have thought about myself, because I wasn't thinking that far away.

"Studies have shown that fertility is not affected. D&C can affect the lining of the uterus making it thinner, if scraping is used. Because of how far along Callie is, I would most likely use suction, but scraping only if necessary. That lowers the possibility of having any complication,"

I scratched my temple nervously "And the other option you mentioned?"

"The other option is to induce medical abortion,"

Mom shifted in her seat "Does that mean…uh, that you would induce miscarriage?"

"To say it shortly – yes," Dr. Reed confirmed "There is a drug called – mifepristone – that would block the hormone called progesterone, causing the lining of the uterine walls to shed. Similar to any normal menstrual cycle," she once again pointed with the end of the pen to the image of the uterus "24-48 hours after taking the first pill, Callie would have to take four more pills called - misoprostol. Withing 4 to 6 hours of taking the pills, the womb lining will start to break down, along with the embryo. The bleeding will be like a heavy period. The abortion would take few hours. I can't tell an exact time, because it varies to all woman. It would be like an early miscarriage. Some say it feels more natural. Unlike surgical procedure there's no shots, no instruments, no scraping or suctions,"

To be honest, it freaked me out. Well, to be fair, all of this freaks me out, but the fact that I can just take few pills and abort the pregnancy, is surprising and scary at the same time.

"Compared to surgical abortion you won't be given any anesthesia," My doctor continued answering all of the questions we asked before "The pain can wary from mild to very strong off and throughout the abortion. But you would be able to take over-the-counter pain medication, like Ibuprofen, Tylenol, to help with it. Similar to D&C, chance of getting pregnant in future isn't affected,"

"But there's a bigger chance that it can fail, right?" I asked shifting a little in my seat

"Yes, that's true. There's a 97% success rate. If it fails, I would have to do a surgical abortion to make sure the abortion is complete," Dr. Reed confirmed, but as she saw the worry in my eyes, she added "Chances of the medical abortion to fail grow as the pregnancy progress. You are only at the end of week 5, so I would say there is a very slim chance that the procedure would fail,"

Once again, after Dr. Reed was done talking, followed another question. This time the question came from my mom "Is this done at a clinic?"

"Medical abortion can be done as an outpatient. Callie could be at home, where she would feel more comfortable, surrounded by family or friend, not medical staff. It's recommended that someone is always stays with her, in case there's a complication and Callie has to get to hospital or need any help," At that said, I glanced to mom the same time she glanced to me. I knew who that person would be - mom. Without a doubt. Wouldn't want anyone else there.

"How are you with seeing blood?" Dr. Reed asked me the next moment, getting my attention

"Uh," I was a little bit taken aback by the question "Good, I guess," I wasn't sure what she wanted me to say, nor did I understood complete, why she asked me that

"I'm asking because if you chose to do medical abortion, you would have to look at the blood cots and tissue that you pass. Some people are a bit...skittish, when it comes to blood," She explained as she held the pen, that she had used as a pointed a while ago, between her hands holding it at each side

"I don't think that would be a problem. I'm a paramedic, so..." I shrugged my shoulders that way finishing my thoughts

"That's good to know," Dr. Reed nodded back, a small smile briefly appearing on her face

"Which procedure would you suggest would be better suited for Callie?" Mom asked the following second. Dr. Reed finally set the pen down, but now she interlocked her hands on the desk in front of her.

"Because Callie is at the end of the 5th week, which is quite early stage, I would advice to use the medical procedure. It's less invasive, can be done at home, in more private environment, and knowing, what you have been through, I would say that it would be more comfortable. The abortion process will take few days, but you have the support system at home, that can help you and you won't be alone," she answers mostly looking to my mom, but then she averted her eyes to me "But ultimately, Callie, it's your choice, which procedure you would like to use. You are in the period, where both procedures are available to you. Once you will be pass 7 weeks, medical abortion procedure is no longer an option,"

Both of the older woman looked at me, waiting for me to say something.

"I can give you two some time to discuss-" Dr. Reed said after a moment

"No!" I called stopping the doctor from standing up and leaving "I want the medical abortion. The rod thing doesn't...it uh...I really, really didn't like the dilation part," my doctor nodded her head, acknowledging my decision

"I know these questions are annoying, but I need to ask you again. Are you _completely_ sure that you want to do an abortion?"

"Yes," I stated back "I'm sure!"

"Okay," Dr. Reed sat up a bit straighter "I would like to go through the medical abortion process step by step once again, before we actually start so you are aware of everything that will happen and have no more questions," She stated. Mom and I both sat up straighter in the chairs as we began to listen to every step of the procedure, so that there are no surprises as I actually go through with this.

 **AN: I hope I got this as accurate as I could. While the internet is full of information about this subject, the information varies in each site. It's hard to understand which describes the process most accurate. Reading articles about woman going through this process differs as well, as you can imagine, there are different experiences.**

 **Thank you everyone, who still continue to follow and read this story, despite the sensitive subject and the long time between the chapters that I take to write it (I just want to get it as accurate as I could). I appreciate the support and encouraging words. They mean a lot, because I'm always doubting myself and I'm always super hard on myself. Knowing that I haven't let you down and that you are enjoying this story, is truly a relief.  
**


	8. No easy way out Part IV

**AN: Warning - this chapter contains scenes of medical abortion! Please read with caution!**

Callie POV

I was sitting on the front porch stairs strumming my guitar. My fingers moved over the strings effortlessly as I played the first song that I wrote for Amy. I wasn't singing the words out loud, but my lips did move as I thought about the lyrics as I played. The light breeze of wind, lightly moved my hair, but the Sun kept me warm as it shined right on me, on my bare feet. I was wearing my light grey sweatpants and a simple, dark red t-shirt on top. Knowing what I was going to go through with today, I needed to feel comfortable and free in my outfit.

I felt strangely calm. Not sure how long will that last, but for the while, I was embracing it.

Mom and Cooper were in the kitchen, eating breakfast like usually in the workday morning. Mom had taken today off to be with me, but she still sat with Cooper at breakfast to keep him company and to send him off to work. There was bacon and coffee smell in the air, but strangely I didn't crave any.

Once I heard the front doors opening, I stopped playing and looked over my shoulder. Cooper appeared in the doorway. He had a gym bag in his left.

"I'm off to work," He said closing the doors behind him

"Have a good day," I replied looking up to him

"You too!" He leaned down and kissed the top of my head, his right hand briefly resting on the back of my head

I doubt this day will classify as good – I thought to myself as I watched how he walked over to his car and got in. As he was pulling out of the driveway, Cooper waved at me. I gave a small wave back, before he drove down the street.

The second his car was out of my sight, I set my hands back on the guitar and continued to play, occupying my mind till the time comes. If Cooper left for work, it meant that it was few minute over 8 in the morning. Which meant that it was still at least 3 hours till I have to take the second round of pill to complete the medical abortion I started out yesterday.

Some minutes after Cooper left, mom came out of the house and sat down next to me on the steps. She had a cup of coffee in her hands. Mom sipped her coffee while I continued to play the guitar. We didn't speak for a while, but the silence between us was comfortable.

"Cooper will go out with his friends after work. He will stay with his co-worker tonight," Mom informed me as she looked down to her cup "It will be just the two of us," she tilted the cup a little bit, trying to see if any more drink was left. It appears there wasn't anything left, because she set the cup down next on the last porch step.

I briefly stopped playing and questioned "You didn't tell him, did you?"

"No," Mom shook her head "He doesn't know."

"Good," I said as I resumed playing. The less people know, the better. This is private. I didn't want everyone to ask how I was doing, how did it went, what was it like, do I regret it etc.

"I'm not making that mistake again," Mom said quietly to herself as she looked down to her hands

"What time is it?" I asked, placing my hand over the string to silence the music

"Um," Mom looked at the watch on her left wrist "8:42. 2 hours and roughly 30 minutes till you have to take the second round of pills. What do you want to do till then?"

"Don't really feel like doing anything," I replied watching the house across the street "I want this day to be over, to be honest," I admitted as I glanced to mom, then tilted my head down to look at the floor "Would love to just fast forward through it."

Mom put her hand on my back and rubbed it soothingly "How about we watch some movie. It could take your mind of thing," she paused a little "I was thinking about Star Wars: The Force Awakens. We have only seen that movie once," she suggested with a smirk

Usually 3 hours don't seem that much. But, when you are waiting for something or someone, the 3 hours can feel like a very long time. Especially the last minutes. While I don't feel anxious or nervous right now, I knew, when the times comes closer, my anxiety will grow. My fingertips were starting to hurt a little from all the playing, so I know, I won't be able to keep my mind occupied with this pastime for long. Movie and moms company will probably help pass the time till the time to take the pills comes.

"That's sounds good," I smiled at mom after I reconsidered

~o~o~o~

About 20 minutes in the second movie we watched - Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith-, mom left the room to go get me the ibuprofen and anti-nausea medication.

30 minutes after the pain and anti-nausea medication was taken, mom left the room again to go get the second round of pills I had to take. While mom went to get the pills, I headed upstairs to put a pad in and then came back downstairs. Mom was sitting on the couch, waiting for me to got back down. She was holding the pills in her hands.

I walked up to the couch and sat right next to mom. My eyes on the four small pills in her palm

"Here you go," Mom said and averted her eyes down to her palm "Between your gums and teeth for 30 minutes," she reminded me as she moved her palm closer to me

"I remember," I answered as I reached for the first pill

Holding the pill between my index and thumb, I examined it. I knew there was no going back (not that I wanted to) for I have already taken the first pill yesterday. Now I just needed to follow through. I was halfway there. Even though, this was what I singed up for, I was nervous. The fact that I didn't know how my body would handle this pills and the actual abortion process of passing the embryo scared me.

Yesterday, after coming home from the appointment, I read a lot about other woman experiences about medical abortion. Each and every woman had had different experience. Some experienced mild pain, some severe, some had diarrhea or vomiting. One woman had written about, how she had an allergic reaction to the pills. I also found out one article in which a woman had written that the pills hadn't worked and she had to undergo the D&C procedure to terminate the pregnancy.

It wasn't the pain or the different side effects that scared me. It was the fact that I had no idea which side effects will affect me or how severe it will be. The unknown is scaring me. I know for sure that I will be spotting and having light bleeding for few weeks after, but other than that – nothing. If I knew what was coming, I could have prepared myself better. Now it's like going in blind in a room full of obstacles. I'm just trying to stay strong.

Mom put her free hand on my knee and rubbed it gently.

I took a deep breath in and exhaled, calming myself down, before I put the first pill behind my left cheek. After the first one was in, I added the rest. Two each side.

"30 minutes," mom looked at her watch to know the exact time I can swallow what is left of the pills "You okay?" she asked me, when I leaned back in the couch and pulled my feet up, trying to relax

"Mhmm," I hummed back gazing at the TV screen, at the paused movie, trying not to focus on the four pills that I have to let dissolve in my mouth

"Okay," Mom said softly as she patted my right hand. She reached for the remote quickly and pressed play. As she leaned back in the couch, she took my hand and brought it over to her lap, now holding it tightly and safely in both of her hands.

After a little while I started to get his chalky taste in my mouth from the pills. It wasn't disgusting, nor did it make me feel nauseous or sick, but it wasn't nothing nice either. In my experience, medicine or pills rarely has tasted good.

As the time to the 30 minutes mark came closer, mom kept looking at her watch more often. Just few short minutes before 30 minutes mark, my cheeks and tongue started to feel kind of numb. That's what happens, when you keep four pills between your teeth and cheeks.

"Swallow the rest," Mom told once the 30 minutes had passed. Thankfully, there weren't lot of the pills left. They had almost dissolved fully in my mouth, which I believe, was good sign.

"Did you put your pad in?" Mom asked in a worried tone some few minutes later as she was handing me a bottle of water. The movie was still playing in the background, but as of right now, neither mom, nor I were paying any attention to it.

I took the water bottle from her "Yes, before I put the pills in," I replied as I opened the water bottle

"Do you want to stay down here or head upstairs?" she questioned as sat down on the corner of the couch and ran her fingers through my hair around my right ear

I finished taking a sip of the water "Um..." I dragged not really knowing what I wanted. If I was upstairs, when it started I would be closer to the bathroom, which meant I wouldn't have to walk up the stairs. But I didn't feel anything, not yet at least.

"I'm fine right here for now," I said in small voice as I put the cap back on the bottle

"Does it hurt?" Mom asked her eyes darting up and down my body "Are you feeling nauseous?"

"No, I don't feel anything yet," I said hoping that maybe I will be one of the lucky ones and not have any sore of side effects from this

"If you need anything - ask!" Mom stated "Anything at all!" I nodded my head back, before averting my attention back on the movie

I was wrong.

It all started with a dull feeling in my lower abdomen about hour after I had swallowed, what was left of the pills. I could feel the pain slowly coming on. Some half an hour after the dull feeling in my abdomen appeared, came some light craps. They weren't as strong as my period cramps. But then again, I had already taken the ibuprofen, so it could be the pain was much more severe than I actually thought it was.

2 hours after I had taken the pills, I went to the bathroom the first time after taken the pills. I had this feeling that I had to pass something. By then the pain had increased and it was a bit stronger my usual period pain. On the bright side, I did not feel sick. There was some blood in my pad and as I sat on the toilet, I passed few clots. It was not the nice sight, which made me remember my doctors words about, how I am with blood. It was good that she warned me about it.

Mom knocked on the bathroom doors "Everything okay?" she sounded very concerned

I flushed the toilet and walked to the doors. When I pulled the doors open, I saw mom leaning at the wall. Her left hand was crossed over her chest, right hand was up to her face, she was biting her thumb nail.

"Anything?" she asked, her face slackened, brows lightly furrowed

"Some light bleeding and I started to pass clots," I explained, keeping her in the loop about what was happening. At the same time I was trying to ease her worry about me.

Mom leaned off the wall "I got the heating pad you asked for," she pointed to her bedroom

"Thanks," I smiled back at her weakly as I made my way to her room. Mom walked right behind me, with her hand on my shoulder blade. I laid down on my back, on moms side of the bed. It took me few seconds of moving my legs, turning my upper body to find the position in which I felt the most comfortable and in less pain. Mom climbed on the bed next to me once I had settled.

Amy placed the heating pad on my lower abdomen and kept her hand on it, to keep it still. Her eyes were filled with worry. I could tell, that all she wanted was to take the pain away from me. To make me feel better. I hate that I'm the one worrying her so much. It feels like I'm hurting her. But I can't do anything to stop her from worrying about me. It's what moms do.

"Did it hurt?" I asked, my voice small and quiet as I gazed at moms eyes. Moms eyes traveled to mine. She looked into my eyes for few seconds.

"For a short time, yes," Mom confirmed quietly, understanding that I asked her about her spontaneous abortion that she suffered few years back

She placed her palm on my forehead and gently moved her hand over my hair "This will soon be over. Just hold on, okay?" Just in the moment, I felt a moment of weakness. Tears appeared in my eyes and my chin quivered a bit. I closed my eyes, trying to keep myself together. That's when I felt moms lips to my forehead.

"You will be all right, my baby!" Mom whispered to me. And I held on to those words, I believed her.

~o~o~o~

I continued to bleed lightly and pass clots for the next 3 hours. Each time I had a feeling that I had to pass a clot, I hurried to the bathroom. The pain remained the same throughout the process. If I should rate it, I would probably give it a 6. It didn't get any more severe, but it didn't dim down as well. For a short period, I did feel like I was about to get a diarrhea at one point, but the feeling passed. Thankfully. Mom supplied me with everything I needed – love and support.

I swung my legs over the bed side. Wincing in pain, I hugged my lower abdomen, when more sever and sharper pain hit me.

"Honey?" Mom instantly was by my side

"Hurts!" I got out through gritter teeth as I tried to fight the pain. I closed my eyes and tried to take some deeper breathes to ease the pain. I was slowly rocking back and forth as I sat. Mom started to rub my back. Sweat appeared on my forehead. I sat on the side of the bed for couple of minutes.

"I have to go!" I jumped up, when I felt that I had to pass something. With my left hand around my stomach, hugging myself, I hurried to the bathroom as fast as I could.

After giving a little push, I felt a lump coming out of me. It felt bigger than the clots. It felt different. I knew it was the embryo even before I looked at it. The sharp pain, that had come on 20 minutes ago, started to ease up as well.

I cleaned off a bit, pulled my pants up and looked down to the toilet.

Swallowing a lump in my throat I turned and looking down at the toilet. There was a red fleshy placenta with an amniotic sac. My eyes were glued to it for couple of seconds as I was trying to see the fetus. At six weeks is about an inch long.

"Mom!" I called, knowing that Amy was standing right outside the bathroom doors

"Yeah?" She called back instantly

"Mom!" I called again, this time in more persistent tone. She got my message. The doors opened slowly the next second and mom peaked her head in.

"I think it's over," I looked up to her, my right hand index pointing down to the toilet. Mom came up to me and looked down to check.

Her eyes were on the amniotic sac just for a second "It's over," she confirmed as she turned to me. I took a step closer and leaned into moms opened arms. I pressed my head to her chest and wrapped both of my arms tightly around mom, wanting to simply be held.

"The worst is over. Everything's all right, love!" mom sang softly as a small, soft sob escaped finally letting go of all of the emotions that I had felt during this whole process

I do not regret my decision, because I knew it was the right one for me.

I felt relieved, that I no longer was pregnant.


	9. Game on Part I

Callie POV

August 26th

I arrived at the Adams Foster house earlier than I told them I would. After all of this time, it's nothing surprising. This feels like a second home to me. I haven't felt like a guest here in a long time. It's been a few years now, since I last rang the bell as well. Jude hasn't rant the bell, when he comes over, as well. He just marches in. Duke greets him like family. As it should be. We are family.

This was the weekend, when the Adams Fosters were going to throw a little party to send off the oldest kids off to college. It won't be anything extravagant. Just a simple BBQ with family. All they wanted was to spend some quality time together, before the kids leave home for weeks if not moths. Their grandparents will visit as well. Mike was going to be here. Mom and Cooper were invited as well.

Duke, who was sitting in the passenger seat barked out, when I stopped the car on the side of the road next to the house. He got really excited, when he saw Frankie run up to the window and wave at us. I waved back at the young girl after I stopped the engine. Duke's tail started to wiggle and he tried to stand up on the seat, getting restless. Frankie disappeared from my sight. Duke looked to me and whimpered at me, getting inpatient with me. Eager to get outside.

"Hold on...give me a sec!" I told him as I opened my seat belt and leaned over so I could open the passenger side doors. Duke jumped out of the car the same time Frankie opened the front doors and came out.

"Duke!" Frankie called out as he ran up to her and started to wash her mouth causing her to giggle out

I got out of the car, opened the doors to the backseat and leaned it. On the backseat stood a blueberry pie mom and I made yesterday for today BBQ. It was still in once piece, which I was thankful for. I pushed the doors close with my elbow, locked the car and walked towards the house.

"Hi, Callie!" Frankie greeted me cheerfully as she was patting Duke's sides

"Hey!" I smiled at her as I walked the path that lead to the house "Can you open the doors for me?"

"Sure!" Frankie jumped up to her feet, Duke put his snout to the ground and started to sniff around

Frankie held the doors open for me "Is that blueberry pie?" she asked me as I walked pass her and into the house

"Yes," I looked over my shoulder to her, she was following me "Don't even think about it!" I gave her a stern look, before I averted my eyes up front. I heard Stef and Lena in the kitchen. There were footsteps upstairs, others were up as well.

"Just one small piece," she begged as she hurried up to my side, her eyes on the pie that I was carrying "It will be hours till we get food and it smells really good," she blinked her eyes at me

"It's barely 11," I frowned my forehead up and glanced to her "You ate breakfast what…hour ago?"

"2 hours," Frankie corrected me "But I only ate cereal. And Jude ate my favorite, so I had to eat the yukky ones only Mariana eats," I laughed lightly at that statement

"They are probably more healthy," I answered, when I set my foot into kitchen. Both Stef and Lena smiled at me, when they saw me enter. The kitchen table and counters were all occupied with bowls, cutting boards, food, ingredients. I looked around looking for a place to set the pie down.

"They taste like...nothing," Frankie whined as Lena cleared a corner of the table "Set it down here," Lena told me putting a cabbage aside

"If you eat one piece now, then the others will want one piece now as well. And if you each take one piece now, which is 7 pieces , 8 if I eat one as well, there will be no pie left for later!" I argued back as I set the pie down. There have been enough BBQ and parties that I know how these things go. It's rare, when there are leftovers in this house.

"You're early," Lena said before we leaned into one another for a quick hug

"Are you surprised?" I smirked back at her, leaning out of the hug

"Not really," Lena smiled back at me as she walked back to the island table and resumed cutting tomatoes, that I assume will be for one of the salad they were making

Stef came over to me and gave me a small peck on my cheek "Missed you and your mom at the self-defense class Thursday."

"Yeah..." I dragged and rubbed the back of my neck "Had some stuff I had to take care off."

"I know. Doesn't mean we didn't miss you," Stef replied, briefly touched my arm and smiled at me warmly. Mom had informed Stef that we won't make it for the class, so she doesn't worry that the both of us don't show up. She was very discrete about it. Didn't gave anything, like she promised me.

"What time will Amy and Cooper be here?" Lena asked briefly pausing the tomato cutting and looking over her shoulder

"Um...They said..." I thought about it, trying to remember, what mom told me at the breakfast table "Around 2," I answered as I walked over to Lena"They had few errands they had to run before coming to the party," I explained as I reached for a small tomato piece she had cut and tossed it in my mouth

"Okay," Lena nodded back, but then added "Stef and I will drive to pick up our parents from airport in about hour, so it could we are not home, when they arrive."

I nodded my head back "It's not like the house will be empty,"

"No it won't," Lena agreed with me and resumed cutting the tomatoes

"Need any help?" I asked wanting to help. There were five big, red tomatoes lined up next to the cutting board.

"Umm..." Lena dragged looking around the counter "No, I think Stef and I are handling it!" she said as she pushed the cut up tomato in a bowl that stood on the right of the cutting board.

"We are on top of everything!" Stef chimed in and opened the tap to wash some cucumbers

"You can go and chat with the kids," Lena added and picked up the next tomato

I turned around to face the kitchen table, ready to head upstairs, but stopped "You have got to be kidding me," I laughed, when I saw that Frankie was eating the pie quietly with a fork. She was sitting on the stool, leaned over the table. Her left elbow pressed to the table, but with her other hand she was holding a fork with pie on up to her mouth. Lena and Stef both looked over at Frankie.

Frankie quickly ate the bite before anyone could take it away from her "In my defense!" Frankie raised the fork up "I know your mom and you made a second pie, because one pie is never enough!"

I looked between Stef and Lena "She isn't wrong," I shrugged my shoulders a bit "Mom is bringing the second pie!"

"Then take the pie, forks and head upstairs," Stef waved at me with the cucumber she was still holding in her hand

"Yay!" Frankie grabbed the pie and hurried towards the stairs "Get the forks, Callie!" Frankie shouted from the stairs "We got pie!" Frankie's voice from the second floor was heard

"Duke is somewhere...around," I informed them, when I took the forks from the drawers

"He's watering our flowers," Lena said looking out the window to the backyard

"It hasn't rained in weeks," I reasoned back to Lena as I slowly backed out of the kitchen

When I got upstairs, I found everyone at Jesus and Jude's room. They were sitting on the floor in a circle. The pie was in the middle. Once Mariana took a bite, she handed the fork to right, to Jude, who took a piece as well.

"Hey, guys!" I smiled, greeting all of them. Mariana and Jesus scooted to side, letting me sit between them. I handed out the forks, so everyone could have one.

"Excellent pie!" Jude complimented pointing his fork down to the pie

"There will be a second one, right?" Brandon asked, holding his fork with the pie up to his mouth

"Yes, mom is bringing it," I answered and struck my fork in the pie taking a small piece

"Don't eat so much," Jesus pushed Frankie's fork up with his and dug in the pie himself "You already ate downstairs! Leave some for the rest!"

"I'm the only one still growing, I have to eat!" Frankie reasoned back now hitting Jesus fork away from the pie with her fork

"So...what are you up to?" I asked and licked my fork clean

"Nothing much," Jude answered with a small shoulder shrug "Before Frankie showed up with the pie, everyone was helping me find the PSP4 Connor gave me years ago."

"You lost it?"

"It's not lost!" Jude reasoned back "It's somewhere in the house," his eyes darted around the room

"Somewhere," Mariana chuckled at the word choice of her brother "We have been looking for it for a half an hour already. No sign of it!"

"Why do you need it?" I questioned "Does Connor wants it back?" I asked curiously, remembering the fact that mom and Stef saw Connor in the city few days ago. Maybe they met up and Connor asked back for the game he so kindly had given to Jude. All thought, now that I thought about it, it seemed highly undoubtedly. The tech is few years old. I haven't seen anyone play PSP4. With the smart-phones, high spec PC, newest PlayStation and x-box, VR stuff, hover boards and everything else that's been going on, PSP4 is kind a like a flip phone – no one uses them anymore.

"No," Jude shook his head "I just want to play it," he shrugged his shoulders a little

"Mama took away his phone for a day, because he wouldn't stop using it at dinner table yesterday," Jesus snickered at his brother

"Uuu," I laughed "Who were you texting to?"

"No one," His cheeks turned a bit pink "Can we not talk about me anymore?" Jude asked looking around us with pleading eyes and still bright red cheeks. We all laughed about it for a moment, but eventually moved along. Discussing other stuff, while we ate. Mariana did whisper in my ear afterward "His name is Spencer. They met in camp!"

~o~o~o~

An empty pie dish stood in the middle of Jesus and Jude's room. I was on my toes, looking at the top shelf in the closet of the boys room. Once we had eaten the pie, the Adams Foster clan resumed looking for the missing PSP4. I, of course, joined them in on the search, because what else would I do.

"Anything?" Jude called, sounded like he was underneath his bed

"No. Nothing. Don't see anything," I closed the doors and turned to look at Jude. Only his feet were visible as the rest of his body was underneath the bed.

"Oh!" Jesus called out and got out from underneath his bed

"Found it!" Jude called out and then a loud bump was heard, because he hit his head at the bottom of his bed "Auch!"

"No, I found a gum!" Jesus raised it up. He took one out and tossed it in his mouth "Callie, want one?"

"Sure," I replied and Jesus instantly tossed it over to me

"I'm going back in!" Jesus told me and slid underneath the bed again, head first

I took a gum and held on to the gum packet a bit longer. As I looked at Jesus, or should I say only his feet, because his torso was now underneath his bed, I asked them "I don't understand, why you are both looking underneath the beds? How could it possible be there?"

"Better safe than sorry," Came a reply from Jude. Looking over to his side of the bed, I saw him get out from underneath it "It's not under my bed," he stated in sadly and dusted off his clothes

"Where's the gum?" he asked, when he got up to his feet. I tossed the gum over to Jude.

"Kids!" Came a shout from downstairs, it was Stef "Mama and I are going to airport to pick up your grandparents! We should be back in some 2 hours! Don't burn the house down while we are gone!"

All the Adams Foster kids shouted something something in reply, so their moms would know they were heard. I heard Duke barking from the outside, he must have heard the shouting going on.

In about 5 minutes we all gathered in the hallway. Neither one of us had found the tech. Jude looked defeated.

"We have checked everywhere!" Brandon said "It's not here!"

"It must be in the house! I knew I saw it laying around somewhere!" Jude ran his hand through his hair, probably trying to think of a spot we haven't searched yet

"There is one place we haven't checked yet," Mariana spoke up. Everyone turned to her. I thought we had already gone through the whole house. Jesus, Brandon and Frankie even checked the garage.

"Which would be?" I raised my eyebrow at Mariana in curiosity. All Mariana did was point her finger up. We all tilted our heads backwards and looked up. There was an attic pull down doors.

"How would it get in the attic?" I questioned still keeping an eye on the attic doors

"Moms store stuff there time by time," Brandon explained "Mariana is right. We should check it. It could me the PSP4 is there ,in some box that moms stashed away a while ago."

"Someone should go up there and look!" Mariana stated and looked at her brothers "I can't go… I washed my hair this morning," she pointed to her hair "Also there could be rats up there and I'm scared of rats!"

Brandon turned to Jesus and patted his shoulder "Go on up!"

"Oh hell no!" Jesus raised his hand ups "I'm not going there!" he backed up a step "You go up there. You're the oldest!"

"It's Jude's tech we are looking for. He should go up himself!" Brandon turned to Jude

"I'm afraid of…dark!" Jude made up an excuse

"Since when?" I laughed at him

"Now," Jude replied in a dead serious tone as his eyes once again traveled up to the attic door

"We have an attic?" Frankie asked shocked as she frowned her forehead up. We all looked to her briefly. Frankie was still staring up to the attic doors. Neither one said anything at her, we just stared at her for few seconds and exchanged few looks with one another.

Suddenly all of the Adams Foster kids, expect for Frankie, who was still staring up to the ceiling, set their eyes on me. I was taken aback by their sudden attention. That was until I realized, why they were looking at me like that.

"Oh, no!" I raised my hands up just like Jesus had minute ago "Not doing it!" I shook my head. They all continued to stare at me "It's not even my house!" I reasoned back

~o~o~o~

I shined the flashlight around once I was in the attic. The ceiling was low, so I couldn't stand up tall. I was half bent down. It was very dusty and stuffy in here. As I sniffed the air a bit, I could tell, there was a dead rat somewhere in here. I hoped that I will not see it. As I took a step deeper, I almost tripped on some wires that were lying around.

There were bunch of stuff lying around. I counted at least 5 cardboard boxes. There was couple of old dinning chairs. One was missing a leg, other didn't have the seat. At the corner of the attic, I saw a big cardboard box that had a pile of some cloth inside. Could be old curtains or table cloth.

"Anything?" Jude called from downstairs

"I just got up here!" I shouted back briefly turning back to the exit

"Look in the cardboard boxes!" Mariana suggested

"There are many cardboard boxes in here, Mariana!" I called back as I walked up to one and dropped down to my knees by it. With my right hand I held the flashlight while with my other hand I rummaged through the stuff in the box. This box contained Christmas lights, Christmas decoration like angels, stars that go on the top of the tree, there was a box on candles inside and silver and gold spray pain for Christmas trees and other Christmas decorations.

I moved on to the second box. It had newspapers inside. I could see a date on one of them. It dated back to July 27th 2009. I reached for the paper, expecting to be able to crumbled the paper up and toss it aside. Instead my fingers hit something solid. The paper was used as a wrapping and padding. I opened the top of the paper and peaked a look to see what was inside the wrapping. It was a flowery vase. Not sure how much it could be worth. Probably nothing much, since it's up here not downstairs. Once I lifted the vase out, I saw that there were multiple other wrappings like the vase. I opened up another one and saw a set of plates with flower patter at the side of them. By the form, I could tell there were few cups wrapped up as well. Maybe they are a set to the plates I just saw, but I didn't open them up to check. This stuff probably didn't have a place in the house anymore, so Stef and Lena packed it up and set it aside. Or it could me they didn't want the kids to break these vases and china.

The next box that I walked up to had stuffed animals inside. I reached for one and lifted up a teddy bear that didn't have an eye. The teddy bear's shirt was missing a button as well. I shined the light in the box to see what other toys were there. There was stuffed dog toy, Rudolf the red nose reindeer, Ferby, baby dolls, miniature toy car, another teddy bear, stuffed lion toy. In the box next to this one, were other toys that a kid would play with. I smiled looking through this box.

I set the teddy bear aside and reached for stuffed dog toy that had caught my eye before. Something squeaked, when I grabbed the stuffed animal. _This stuffed dog used to bark_ – I thought to myself as I picked it up. Once I had lifted it out of the box, I squeezed it again, expecting to hear the same sound. But the sound never came.

"Huh?" I turned the stuffed animal around, examining it "I wonder whom you belonged to," It looked to be well preserved, at least it looked to be in the best shape of them all. Once I turned the animal to face me, I guessed to myself "Where you Frankie's toy?"

As I was setting the dog back in the box, I heard the squeaking sound again. I leaned closer trying to tell where the sound was coming from.

"Aaaaaahhhh!" I screamed out, when I saw multiple rats looking at me from the bottom of the box. I fell backwards and hit the floor. As fast as I could I crawled away from the box all while throwing the dog toy back into the box. Dust raised up in the air from the air movement. It went up in my nose, tickling my nose.

"Callie! Are you okay!?" The Adams Foster kids called concerned, but neither were brave enough to climb up here on their own to check on me

"Yeah...yeah...I'm good!" I said getting my composure back "Found the rats!" I informed them as I got up to my feet. Forgetting that the ceiling was low, I bumped my head as I stood up. The sound of that was pretty loud. It hurt as well.

As I rubbed my head, Jude asked me "What was that sound?"

"Nothing...nothing!" I winced a bit in pain "All good!" I shook it off

"Can you hurry up with the boxes?" Mariana shouted from downstairs "I think there is dust coming in the house from the attic!"

"You are welcome to come up here and join me in the search!" I shouted back as I walked across the attic room to the next box. This box and the two next to it contained magazines, notebooks, papers and books. I moved to the next boxes, because I was sure, the tech I was looking for won't be with paper stuff.

This next box I was looking for had nerf guns. Lots and lots of nerf guns. I picked up the one at the top, but underneath it I counted at least 6. I lifted few of them out to see if they had the nerf bullets in and in what condition they were in. The ones I checked were fully loaded and looked to be in perfect shape.

"Why do you guys have a collection of Nerf guns up here?" I asked out of curiosity

"They are up there?" I heard Jesus ask back "Can you bring them with you, when you are coming down?" No question about whose favorite toy was this one. I set the Nerf gun back down and pulled the box closer to the exit so I wouldn't forget about it.

When I walked up the last box, I saw the tech that Jude was looking for. It was stashed between old headphones and an old router. Underneath it were wires, old PC mouse, old flip phones, few more headphones and other techy stuff, that probably no longer worked and was not necessary. I grabbed the tech Jude was looking for and proceeded to exit.

"Got it!" I called out, when I was up to the attic doors

"You did!?" Jude appeared by the stairs

"Yup! Here it is!" I handed the tech and the flashlight down. Before I climbed down myself I took the box with Nerf guns with me. Jude was standing aside checking the PSP4.

"What's that?" Frankie asked as she waited for me to climb down

"Haha!" Jesus exclaimed and hurried up to me "My old Nerf guns!" he picked up two and aimed both at Mariana

"Hey, lower that thing down," she turned her side to her twin in case he shoots her with her with it

"I'm not sure if they work," I said as I picked one up myself wanting to check it out. It was a blue color. By the looks it had two cylinders where the Nerf bullets could go in. Almost like a revolver.

"Owww! Jesus!" Mariana suddenly exclaimed

"They work!" Jesus grinned at me "And don't be such a wuss. This doesn't hurt!" he stated picking up the Nerf bullet he had fired at his twin

"Battery is dead," Jude announced and put the PSP4 down on the closet surface he found and then came up to the box as well

The bathroom doors opened and Brandon came out "Wow..you found our old Nerf gun stash! I thought mom threw them away! Mama hated when we played with them," he came out up to the box as well "Jesus, remember how we used to play with these?" Brandon said examining the play gun in his hands

"Yeah, we had so much fun!" Jesus said while I tried to fire the Nerf gun I was holding. The bullet flew out, pass Brandon and hit the wall behind him

"Hey, B! Does your work?" I asked nodding to the Nerf gun in his hands

Brandon shot Nerf bullet to Jesus side "Yup!"

Frankie took one as well and tried it as well "Wow! So cool!" she called out once the bullet few into her room. I handed one to Mariana and Jude as well. They both check to see if they worked and if they bullets.

"These all work!" Jesus commented, but then froze for few seconds. His eyes darted around all of us as she slowly repeated, what he just said "Guys...these all work!"

"These all work!" Jude repeated staring at Jesus at his realization. His eyes shining of excitement. "We could play 3 against 3!" Jude suggested, clearing up what the two of them were thinking

"Girls against boys?" Jesus suggested with a smirk on his lips

 **AN: I'm trying to go with a more playful chapter this time. I think after the last four, it's needed. Some quality...kids time.**

 **I hope you enjoy and that you will stick around :)**

 **AN2: It would be very helpful, if you could fill the poll I put out. Thank you.**


	10. Game on Part II

**_AN: Finally, I return to this story. It has been a long time since the last chapter. And I am sorry about that. I wanted to focus on finishing my other story and not screw up the ending._**

 ** _I'm not sure, how long will this story turn out (the whole story, not this particular mini-story). There are few ideas, which I definitely want to write up. My goal, however, is for this story to reach 26 chapters, so the AU I have created will reach it's 200th chapter. After that, only time will tell._**

Callie POV

"We are _so_ going to lose it!" I said thinking realistically as we, the girls, all huddled up inside the garage, which was our starting point

"Yup," Mariana agreed without missing a beat "They have an advantage on us. Jude and Jesus both love those shooting game. Battlefield or whatever it was called," By the look on Mariana's face I knew she thought we have no chance on winning this as well. The only positive looking was Frankie.

"Isn't it called Call of Duty?" I asked remembering that I have sat and watched how Jude and Jesus both have played one of those games. Jesus once tried to talk me into trying it, but it's really not my field. Mario Cart - that I like, it's a fun little game. Could play it for hours. But playing shooting games was not for me.

"It was about war and shooting right?" Mariana wondered

"Yeah," I replied turning slightly more to face Mariana "He was controlling this one dude, walking with a rifle in his hands, walking across some field. There were collapsed and burning buildings. Enemies attacking from left and right. "

"Jesus once tried to tell me that there were real life historical figures in the game. Like from the World War One-"

"Focus!" Frankie called out stopping our chatter "We have a game to win. If you want to chit-chat, go sit in a Coffee Inn, order a Mocha latte and leave your Nerf guns to me, so I can handle the boys on my own!" Frankie stared at both of us with a seriousness that I had never seen before "So, which one will it be?"

"Geez...Chill, sis!" Mariana said with a little bit of attitude

I stared at Frankie, without blinking, speechless for couple of seconds. That side of her really surprised me. I never thought Frankie was so competitive and so not like...Lena. Without a doubt, this side of her came from watching Stef on game nights. Not exactly sure if it's a good or bad thing. Could be both.

"Mom is rubbing off on her too much," Mariana explained to me

"Yeah...I can see that!" I replied in a low voice, still keeping my eyes on the young girl next to me

"Are you staying or-" Frankie started to ask us again, looking rather annoyed with us

"Of course we are staying!" Mariana answered as she stretched her left arm out to the middle of our small huddle, palm down "Girl power, right?" She looked to both of us, waiting for us to join in.

"Right!" Frankie agreed, placing her palm on top of Mariana's. They both looked to me, waiting to see my reaction.

"Hell yeah!" I put my hand on top of them as no other pep talk was needed to get pumped and excited about the game

"Girl Power on 3!" Mariana said "One, two-" Mariana hadn't finished the countdown, when the garage doors busted open and Nerf bullets flew our way. All three of us covered our faces and turned our backs to the boys as we all tried to protect ourselves from the incoming bullets.

"Ha, ha-yeah! Awesome! Got them!" All three of them cheered, giving each other high fives after they ran out of Nerf bullets

"It wasn't fair, we weren't ready yet!" Mariana protested, when all three of the boys came in and started to pick up their bullets their fired at us

Frankie threw a fit "I told you we were chit-chatting too much. I told you!" She was definitely close to tears now "It's all your fault!" she glared at Mari and me, but then turned to the boys "I want to change the teams. Jude, switch with me."

Jude snickered back putting his Nerf bullets back in his gun "No way!" he shook his head popping another bullet inside "I like my team. I like being on the winner side!"

"Hey," I poked the young girl's shoulder to catch her attention "What happened to Girl Power?"

"Girl Power sucks!" She barked back visibly upset that we lost the first round so easily. She clearly didn't get this from either of her moms. Frankie was throwing a fit, because she was still a young kid, who simply wanted to win badly and didn't like losing.

"Whoa. Hey! Na-ha!" Mariana exclaimed slightly hurt by her sister so quick giving up on her team "Don't say that. Girls rules!"

"And also," Brandon put hand on her shoulder and looked down to her "Watch the language, Chicken Little!"

"Sucks, sucks, sucks!" Frankie repeated the words back just to despite him as she glared up to her older brother

"Hey, enough!" Brandon said in a lot more firm and louder voice, which made Frankie stop pouting "You know moms don't approve of that language and they certainly don't want you to use, despite the fact they they are not here right now. You will respect that! Got it?"

"We lost..." she looked down, kicking her foot out, still pouting "I don't like to lose. I want to win!"

"Sorry, Chicken Little," Jesus ruffled her hair walking pass her, heading towards the doors "That's life."

"I don't like it!" Frankie whined back

"You need to learn how to lose too, you know," Jude said closing the Nerf guns barrel close

"But you never let me win anyway!" Frankie crossed her arms on her chest

"You won at the Circus game, remember?" Jude recalled

"What Circus game? We haven't played Circus in years!"

Jude squinted his eyes a little as he recalled the memory back "Oh, right…you were 4," My brother shrugged his shoulder "Ah, well...Callie never let me win, when we played games growing up."

"That's not true!" I defended myself "I let you win."

"Oh, yeah?" Jude challenged me back "Name one time it was only the two of us playing!"

As I was put on the spot, nothing came back. All I remember, were the board games we played with mom and dad. And in them, mom or dad always allowed Jude to win, because he was the youngest. It definitely wasn't fair, so whenever Jude and I played something, I never let him win. There were even few occasion where I changed the rules or cheated just so Jude wouldn't win. But that's just what older siblings do, right?

"You can't remember, because that never happened!" Jude answered for me "See, Frankie, that's what older siblings are for...to teach the youngest to lose," he smirked at her

"Someday," Brandon smiled down at her, before looking up to us "Second round in 2 minutes?"

"And not a second less!" Mariana pointed her finger at him, wanting them to keep the words "Also..you can't ambush us right outside the garage. Go to the other side of the house," Mariana added an extra rule to give us a more of a chance to win at this

"Fine!" Brandon agreed, he shook hands with Mariana. As he turned to the exit, he called out "Jude time it! 2 minutes."

As Brandon stepped over the doorstep, he pulled the garage door with him and said "Starting now!" the garage doors slammed close behind me. Through the small window in the garage wall, we saw all three of them walk pass the house. Duke ran up to them, each of the boy patted him, but then Duke ran back to the back porch.

"So, what's our plan?" Mariana asked "We hide and attack, when they come looking for us?" She suggested the next second

"I just got the perfect idea," I said as a huge grin slowly grew on my lips as I watched Duke "We have to hurry, come on!"

~o~o~o~

My plan was perfect, taken in the fact, how quickly we had put it together. The plan consisted of 7 steps.

Step 1: I called Duke over.

Step 2: we recorded ourselves talking on Mariana's phone. It was a message of us talking in hushed voice as if the three of us were hiding in a room, talking in a hushed voices, trying to plan an ambush on the boys.

Step 3: we changed Mariana's ring tone to the recorded message

Step 4: we attached Mariana's phone to Duke's collar, basically turning Duke into the forth player on our team.

Step 5: the three of us went to hide upstairs, while the boys waited for the two minutes to be over by the street. Frankie hid in the girls room, Mariana hid in the boys room, but I hid in the bathtub behind the curtain in the joined bathroom. Duke was with me in the bathroom, simply laying on the floor.

Step 6: we waited for the boys to come upstairs

When I heard the boys coming upstairs, I got ready to execute our plans last and most important Step 7. The timing had to perfect, otherwise the plan will fail miserable and we will once again lose to the boys.

"Do we split up?" I heard Jude asked his brother in the hallway in a hushed voice

"No," Jesus replied after a moment "It's safer if we keep sticking together. That way we have each others back."

"Where do we start?" Brandon questioned later

I waited to hear what room they choose. If they chose the Master bedroom or Brandon's room, we have couple of more seconds to get to the last step in our plan. If they chose either the girls, boys or bathroom – I have to act fast. Otherwise, we are doomed.

"Let's start with moms room first," Jesus decided. I listened in on how they all walked further away from the bathroom. It took them approximately two minutes to clear both the master bedroom and the bathroom. Once they were done, they walked out to the hallway again. The boys agreed to check Brandon's room next, which meant that we had to sit in complete silence for another minute.

When they came out to the hallway again, I executed Step 7. All I needed to do was make a call to Mariana's phone. The recorded message of us talking in hushed voice to be quiet and sit still, they are coming, rang out, getting their attention and telling Frankie and Mariana to get ready. I ended the call after couple of seconds, otherwise the message would start to repeat itself. Besides, if the message rang out too long, they would realize it was a record and not our real voices.

I remained laid down in the bathtub so they won't see me the second they come in.

The location and plan was ideal. Why? Because they had to make a big decision as to how to proceed.

If they come barging into the bathroom through the main doors, they would find themselves in a room with two other entrances. Two locations they could be targeted from. Not to mention, Mariana or Frankie could surprise them from their back as well, if either decided not to attack through the doors that lead to the could of course approach the sound from one of the bedrooms, but I was not convinced they would do that.

If they split up, each taking one room, respectively - boys, girls and bathroom - they would be split up. Making themselves more vulnerable for attack. There's no one to watch their backs - as Jesus said. They might thing we were all hiding in here, so they could walk into the bedrooms without a worry in their mind, thus, walking into a trap.

Another option was for them to split up 2 and 1. That could be tricky, for one of us. One of us could be outnumbered, one could be in a duel, but the last one wouldn't have any idea what was going on and why no one was coming inside. This is something that I don't want to happen.

The last and, what I assume was also the smarted, option, was for them to not approach us, but to just wait us out. Till we leave our post. But, as I sat here in the bathtub thinking, I came to the realization that they won't do it, because they don't want to sit around and wait for us to get bored. They want action. They want to charge at us. They want to show us that they are better at us and in their minds, they can't do it, by just waiting around.

When I heard them split up, I knew this was going to be the Battle of Siblings as it was going to be 1 on 1 in each room.

I heard how someone was opening the doors slowly. Whoever it was, he was being cations. I did not hear him walk inside once the doors were open. He was checking the room out from the hallway, because he did not want to get shot the second he enters. I took a deep breath in to calm my nerves and racing heart. While this was just a game, it was exciting and nerve tickling at the same time.

When I heard someone take a carefully placed step inside the room, my heart began to beat against my chest faster. Blood was rushing through my veins just like, when Jesus made me play the horror game or when I watched a horror movie. It was scary sitting completely still in room with no idea what to expect. I had no idea if the person entering had suspected someone hiding behind the curtains. I pressed my lips together trying to hush my elaborate breathing and tried to stay perfectly still.

"Duke?" I heard my brothers voice, when he saw my dog laying by the bathtub "What are you doing here buddy?"

The timing had to be perfect and this seemed to be the perfect time for my brothers attention was on my dog.

All my movements were fast. I pulled the curtain open fast and fired the Nerf gun at my brothers chest.

"Wha-" was all that he said, before the Nerf bullet hit his chest, thus, fake killing him. His hands lowered, shoulders slumped down as he relaxed and looked to me in shock. I pressed my index finger to my lips and showed him to be quiet, because, well, in the game he was dead and dead people can't speak. That would be cheating.

Climbing out of the bathtub was a struggle. I didn't want to make much noise, but also, I felt some mild pain from my abortion because of all the bending and stretching and pulling.

I noticed Jude's worried look, once I had stepped out of the bathtub with my left hand rubbing my lower stomach and me wincing in pain. He took a step closer to me and reached out to me.

"I'm fine," I mouthed to him, when he gently touched my arm, while his eyes were on my stomach

I pulled myself together as I needed to make an important decision. Which room do I go to now? Girls or Boys? Did Mariana or Frankie succeed like I did or were they both shot? What was the score?

I pulled my phone out from my pocket and unlocked it. This was a long shot, but I needed to draw the attention. If either Jesus and Brandon were still in the game, they would most likely call out at the sound of one of their sisters, which no longer was in the game and was right in front of them.

I locked eyes with Duke. He tilted his head to right as he looked to me.

"Stay," I whispered to Duke before I snuck out of the bathroom, pass Jude. Once I was in the hallway, I pressed the call button.

"What is that!?" I heard Jesus exclaim from the boys room

Drawing to a conclusion, that Frankie had succeeded, because Brandon made no sound, I tiptoed towards the boys room. Peaking my head inside the open doors, I saw Mariana sitting on his bed, watching her brother, while Jesus was carefully sneaking towards the bathroom. Mariana noticed me peaking, but stayed perfectly still and made no noise not to alarm her twin.

"I know it's a trick!" Jesus called out as he stood by the bathroom doors, reaching to the handle with his left "Mariana is no longer in the game-" He called out, when I pointed my Nerf gun at him, aimed and fired, hitting him in his side.

Jesus rubbed his side "Ah, _maaaaan_!" He turned towards me, wanting to see, who got him "Figures," he sighed as he saw me

"We lost!" Jude announced from the hallway after he heard Jesus

"I got Brandon!" Frankie shouted as we all heard running footsteps "Callie! Mari!" she was so excited "We won, we won!"

"We sure did!" I smiled, while watching the very disappointed Jesus. Frankie ran up to me, hugged my side and then ran to Mari and jumped on her, hugging her both fell backward onto the bed, both giggled.

"How could we have lost!?" He was shocked "Jude! B!?" Jesus called out "What the hell happened?" he threw his arms up, when his brothers walked inside

"We were tricked!" Jude explained walking inside the boys room along with Brandon and Duke "They used a phone," my brother held Mariana's phone up "Recorded a message, thus forcing us to slit up."

"Nice plan," Jesus admitted

"I would say it was an excellent plan," I grinned at him feeling very proud for I came up with it

"1:1," Brandon concluded "Are we ready for the next round?" He looked around, waiting to see everyone's reactions. We all agreed, picked up the Nerf bullets and started round 3.

~o~o~o~

Five rounds in, when the score was 2:3 (the boys were winning), Amy and Cooper arrived. We took a small break - chatted for a while, took bathroom breaks, tried to come up with new game plans for the next match. When Amy and Cooper learned that we were playing with Nerf guns in two teams – girls versus boys- they both wanted to participate as well. Respectively – Amy was on girls team, Cooper on boys team. Luckily enough, in the old box, we found two more working Nerf Guns, we all could participate. The only problem was that there weren't 8 bullets. There were only 6 bullets. So both of the adults got only 3. The rest of us had 4.

We played in those teams, till Stef and Lena returned along with the grandparents. When everyone was here, there was a small change in the teams lineup. Cooper put his gun down and gave it away to Stef, who joined the boys team. To conclude – each team had a cop now. While we played, the grandparents, Lena and Cooper started to make food for the BBQ in the kitchen.

As the food was almost done, the table on the back porch was set, and Cooper and Stewart were grilling the last of the meat, it was time for the last match of the game.

For the last time the teams lineups were changed up. The one and only change – we had talked Lena into playing one match. She was being very stubborn and unwilling at first, but eventually after Frankie pleaded to her, she agreed. She replaced Amy on our team and without wasting any more precious minutes, we started the 10th and final match of the day.

"Ow!" I cried out, when a Nerf bullet hit me right in my left ear. Rubbing my ear, I looked at the small hallway, which lead from the kitchen nook area, where I stood now, to the dinning room. Stef winked at me, before she run off, hunting.

"Oh, well," I thought to myself as I headed towards the back porch were everyone else was sitting, waiting for the game to be over.

Just as I walked out, Cooper put the last rib in a bowl and turned off the grill. He grabbed the bowl, turned around and saw me stand by the doors.

"Wow, look who is finally here!" He smiled at me as he carried the bowl to the table and set it down on the middle

"Yeah, Stef got me. Not really a surprise if you ask me," I replied as I set my Nerf Gun next to the other one on the floor. Looking around I was surprised to see almost everyone there – Brandon, Jesus, Jude, Mariana and Frankie.

Frankie had been the first one out as Jude had gotten to her about 2 minutes in the game. Mariana and I witnessed it and went after Jude for revenge. After intense shoot down, Mariana and I had managed to hit him. At that point Mariana had run off to somewhere leaving me alone. As I was wandering the territory, Jesus tried to attack me, but I was saved by Lena, who with her eyes closed, had managed to fired a Nerf bullet right to his butt, causing all three of us to laugh out loud. Stef apparently had gotten Mariana at some point, but either Lena or Mariana had ruled out Brandon from the game (not sure at what point). Just few seconds I got Stef shot me, which meant that there were only two players left on each team – Stef and Lena.

 _This was sure going to be an easy win for the boys_ – I thought to myself as I went to one of the empty seats at the table - _A trained cop versus a vice-principle, who is afraid of guns. Boys will win this whole thing with 6:4._

"Juice?" Stewart offered me, holding a jug up. The offer came at the right time as I was thirsty

"Yes, thank you," I grabbed my glass and handed it over to him. Steward handed the glass back in few seconds, but afterwards offered to refill the glass his granddaughters.

Just as I raised it up to my lips, I saw how Lena wandered in the backyard from the left side of the house. She was looking around frantically, probably worried that Stef will sneak up to her.

"Go, mama!" Frankie cheered her "You are the last on our team!" Lena did not look happy at those news, not even a little bit. In fact, to me she looked scared.

"There you are!" We heard Stef's voice as she appeared in the backyard from the other side of the house. Lena instantly raised her Nerf gun up and aimed it at her wife, who still was on the other side of the yard. Too far away as the bullets don't fly that far.

The rest of us were in the perfect place for the last showdown. We were in the middle of the stage, having the perfect view on both of them.

"Stef…don't!" Lena sounded desperate the second Stef took the first step towards her. Stef paused briefly, taking in her wife's demeanor.

"Lena it's okay," Stef assured her wife as she resumed walking towards Lena more confidently, almost knowing that Lena won't pull the trigger and end the game. Lena kept retreating back, until her back hit the brown fence that separated their yard from their neighbors.

"Stop!...Please, stop, Stef!" Lena pleaded with tears in her eyes now moving her finger on the trigger. We all knew Lena didn't like guns. And that was an understatement. That was seen now. Every cell in her body was against guns. As we all witnessed, it didn't matter if it was a play or real gun.

Lena probably never thought that she would be pointing a gun at her wife's chest. The curly haired woman was struggling like I've never seen before. It was getting to her. I actually thought she could break down crying any second now. All over a silly game.

But as I thought about it some more, it probably didn't feel as a game to her. Stef has been shot two times. Both times she ended up fighting for her life. And Lena was the one, who sat beside her, holding her hand, caring for her 5 children on her own. I wouldn't be surprised that those memories of nearly loosing Stef, of seeing her wife bleed out right in front of her, were flushing over her like waves. The reminder of mom lying on the hospital bed pale as the sheets had reappeared in my mind, when in one of the games I saw how Brandon shot Amy right to her chest, where a bullet once pierced her skin. A sudden urge to jump up and call out "Stop!" came onto me, but as fast as it came, it went away, as I remembered that this was just a game, that those were not real guns, there weren't real bullets inside and that it didn't hurt being shot.

The closer Stef got to Lena, the lower Lena started to point the gun. Eventually, her arm was bent 90 degrees, her elbow pressed to her side and then gun was pressing into Stef's stomach were once a bullet had already penetrated her.

"Love," Stef intruded Lena's personal space "One of us has to do it! You know it, love!" Stef moved her Nerf gun so it touched Lena's stomach as well

A tear must have fallen down Lena's cheek, because Stef raised her left arm up and with her index finger she fondly caressed her wife's cheek. Lena placed her palm on Stef's cheek in the most lovingly way. They leaned closer. Their lips touched for a slow, passionate and heartfelt kiss, which made all of us go _awww_. I felt their love for each other just by this one kiss. And it was one of the most beautiful moments ever. To witness that. To see that affection.

Once the kiss was over, they took a couple of seconds to just gaze into each others eyes, before they both closed their eyes and pressed their forehead together. Unknowingly and unintentionally, I held my breath, waiting for the game to end. The tension around the table was so high, I could cut it with a knife. I took my eyes off the two woman out in the yard to see if the others at the table were holding their breath as well. It appeared that everyone was in a similar state as I - their eyes on Stef and Lena, holding their breathes, mesmerized by their love for one another.

Someone unsuspectingly gasped next to me forcing me avert my gaze back to the two woman...

 ** _AN2: Which team do you think won? Team A (Lena, Callie, Mariana and Frankie) or team B (Stef, Brandon, Jesus and Jude)? Who pulled the trigger?_**


	11. Game on Part III

**AN: I know it has been almost month since I last update. I do apologize for the long wait for I do hate to keep you waiting especially, because so many of you are still so invested in this silly AU. For a while I had no inspiration to write this so I put it off for a while, but everything has a silver lining as does my break. I actually have started to write and plan a new AU story which won't contain any OC . It will focus on the Jacob siblings and Stef and Lena. It's a work in progress. I have drafts of the 4 chapters written up and couple of ideas and few chapters for the middle of the story.**

 **I hope you enjoy :)**

 **P.S. The middle part just happened...it basically wrote itself. Oops :)**

Stef POV

"Ow," I breathed out, when I felt the Nerf bullet hit my stomach, even though it didn't hurt

There were gasps heard from the porch. In the heat of the moment I had forgotten that we had an audience, that Lena and I were not alone, that we were on different teams and that bunch of people were rooting for each of us.

Opening my eyes, the first spot my eyes went to, was my wife's eyes, who was looking at me regretfully. Almost as if she had betrayed my trust somehow. Briefly averting my eyes down, I saw the Nerf bullet laying between our feet. They might see the Nerf bullet on the grass, but I highly doubt they saw from which gun it flew out.

"I'm sorry, babe!" Lena whispered back, when I looked at my wife. She gazed to me with tears in her eyes, raised her hand up to my face and fondly caressed my cheek "I had to. The girls believed in me!" there was definitely remorse heard in her voice for what she had done to me

"Who won!?" Suddenly Frankie yelled out from the porch making me flinch lightly "Mama, did we win?! Mama?" We both chuckled quietly at our youngest, when we looked at each other

"Go on," I smiled giving her the permission to boast and celebrate the win, feeling proud about how I let Lena win

"We won!" Mama called back, throwing her arms up in a victory. There were cheers heard instantly by the girls, but groans from the boys as they were not happy about it. Lena did a little dance as she walked towards the porch.

High fives were given left and right once she reached the porch.

"Mom wasn't really playing," Jesus was heard defending the fact that we had lost this match "She was going easy on all of you!"

"Na-ha!" Mariana disagreed, when I walked to the rest of the family "She got really angry with herself, when she missed me the first time."

"She was trying to spare your life!" Jude sided with his brother

"You're just all bitter, because you lost this match!" Callie spoke up

"We were simply doing what moms always told us, to go easy on all of you," Brandon argued back "Let you win!"

"It's not important who won or who lost-" Dana tried to reason with the kids, but she was over-spoken by the kids, who continued to bicker over at the table.

Girls winning meant - overall score was tie. Of course I could have easily ended the game 2 minutes ago, bringing the victory to the boys team, but then I wouldn't be seeing this wide, bright smile and joy on my wife's face. It's all worth it. This must be the first time I let Lena win in any game.

"Mom, tell them," Jesus turned to me the second I had sat down at the table

"Tell them what?" I questioned, looking first at Jesus, then at the rest of the boys, who all looked like their pride had been hurt somehow. It's as if they took this lose personally and to heart. I do understand that, not wanting to admit that the girls were as tough and strong as they are. They don't want to be seen as weak. Men like to win and loosing comes hard to them. In this case they need to come to terms with the fact - girls are as good as them in a game, what usually is only played by boys.

"You let mama win."

At Jesus statement I instantly glanced to Lena, who was sat at the end of the table. The longer I watched her interact with the girls, the more confused I started to get. There was no longer any signs that the play pretend gun fight game had gotten to her emotionally.

"Give it up, Jesus!" Jesus twin chimed from the other side of the table "You're a sore loser!"

When Lena did finally look me in the eye, I was no longer completely sure, that I had let Lena win. The one sided smirk and the mischief look in her eyes, told me that I had just gotten played by her.

While the dislike against guns and the painful memories of me being shot were absolutely genuine - I was starting to believe that Lena did exploit it in her favor. To get an easy win against me, because if we had truly went into a one-on-one Nerf gun battle, I would have won in matter of seconds. I am a trained cop, after all. Lena is not dumb – she knew she had no chance against me. Adding an extra tear, quivering lip here and there, playing more to my emotions, showing me just in how much of an emotional turmoil she is in – was her way of beating me. It was a well executed plan and I fell for it. She made me see her as a damsel in distress, while in reality she was just waiting for me to let my guard down. And of course I fell for her trick, I love her to pieces and seeing her like that was hard for me. Lena beat me, by tricking me.

Damn, she's good.

This was the first time I had seen Lena like that. It was a completely different side of her. Suddenly the only real thought I had, was for me to grab Lena's hand, pull her towards the first floor bathroom, much like she had done to me at our wedding day, and just make love to her. Despite the fact that there over 10 people in this house. I just wanted Lena. Bad.

Pushing my chair back, I got up and walked over to Lena. I leaned down to her, reaching for her hand simultaneously, and whispered in her ear "I need to talk to you. It's important."

Lena looked at me puzzled at my serious tone, confused about my sudden wish to speak with her alone "About what?" she whispered back to me, looking rather worried at me

"Come," I pulled on her hand lightly, telling her to just follow me without asking any more questions

"Where are you two going?" Sharon asked, when Lena was on her feet, ready to follow me inside the house

"We'll be back. You can start to eat," I told them before I walked away, pulling Lena with me

"Stef," Lena had no clue what had happened or what's about to happen "What's going on?" she questioned

I pulled her into the bathroom and locked the doors behind her.

"Stef!" Lena exclaimed trying to understand what has gotten into me. I turned to Lena, who stood at the same spot by the wall, where I had stood dressing in all white. Taking a step closer to her, I invaded her private space completely. Her back hit the wall, she had no way to go. Our noses almost touched, I could feel her breath on my skin and hear her heart beating inside her chest.

"I want you," I breathed out before going in for a kiss, while my hands pulled her tucked blouse out of her jeans. At first Lena rested her hands on my shoulders, but her right hand traced down to my upper arm and her fingers pressed into my skin a moment later.

"Stef we have…" Lena managed to say in the moment, when I went from kissing her lips to kissing her neck "...guest..." the last part came out as a moan

"I don't care," I replied while my fingers had found the last button on her blouse. One by one I started to unbutton her blouse all while exploring Lena's collar bone with my lips. Lena's breathing became more elaborated by each passing second, as did mine.

"Everyone is outside..." Lena uttered, when I squeezed her breasts with my hands "...waiting for us."

Briefly stopping the kissing, I gazed to Lena's eyes, while gently tracking my finger down her stomach to her jeans "Tell me you don't want this and I'll stop. Just say – stop."

I popped the jeans button open and pulled down the zipper, while I waited for Lena to stop me. All she had to do was say one word. One simple word and I will back off, saving my strong feelings for the night. The problem was, while I could wait till night, till everyone is asleep, I don't want to. The urge to have Lena right here, right now was stronger than it has ever been.

Seconds passed, but her lips never moved and she didn't utter a singe sound. So I made a move and moved my hand lower, while keeping my eyes on Lena's lips that I wanted to feel again. Lena allowed me to slip my hand inside her panties and feel her. She was already moist down there, telling me she wanted this as much as I did.

Callie POV

I looked back at the house over my shoulder after I thought I had heard something. It was a faint sound. Barely audible. A small scream. I must have been the only one who heard it, because no one else seemed to be bothered by it. Because I didn't hear the sound again, I brushed it off as wind and turned back to the rest of the family.

I continued to listen to Mariana, who was looking at me with much love in her eyes "I'm going to miss you so much!" She said referring to me having my first day on job next Monday. It was a big day. Important day. I was nervously excited for it. Not knowing what will bring, who will I be partnered with.

"I'm not going anywhere, you know that right?"

"I know, but you're the first one of us to start your own first real job. The real deal!" she emphasized at the end "It will never be the same again."

"Why do you make it sound like Callie starting her job is...such a horrible thing?" Amy questioned back with a light chuckle in her voice as she shifted in her seat a little

"Because Callie no longer will be one of us."

"What does that mean?" Jude frowned his forehead up and looked at me for answers. I shrugged my shoulders as a reply and returned my eyes back to Mariana.

"Adult!" Mariana clarified "She'll be an adult!"

My mother started to laugh sincerely, I glanced to her not understanding the joke in there "Why are you laughing?"

"Oh, honey!" she patted my shoulder "You are hardly an adult. Having a job doesn't make you instantly an adult. Neither does being able to vote at the age of 18. Or being allowed to buy alcohol at the age of 21. Same goes for being in a steady relationship or having a degree, or having a baby. None of those things make you automatically an adult."

Stewart spoke up next "Answer me this, Callie – do you feel like an adult?"

I gazed down to my glass while I thought about it "Not really," I admitted returning my gaze to Jude's grandfather "I have this strange feeling - I don't feel like an adult, but I don't feel like a teenager either! It's like I'm somewhere in between and to be honest, it feels very confusing."

"According to the latest research, human brain does not fully develop until the age of 25. At this age people can control impulses, solve problems, regulate emotions and organize behavior better. That's why so many people do so many crazy stuff in their teen years. It would be more accurate to say that one does not become an adult until he or she has reached the age of 25. Until then, the term young adult is more appropriate!" Dana chimed in in her usual manner, over the time I have come to truly appreciate her more scientific input "You're at the age of transformation from being a teenager to becoming an adult. That phase is confusing and hard for everyone, full with doubt, lots of questions, hard decisions."

"That's sound about right," I agreed to everything Dana said

"We will certainly never see any one of you as an adult," Sharon added pointing to each and every one of the younger generation "You will forever be babies in our eyes and hearts!" She patted Brandon hand, but gazed to Jude and smiled. Both boys returned the smile to her grandmother appreciating the love.

"Where did your moms go?" Cooper looked around searching for either one of them "This feels like the perfect time for a toast, but they are not here."

"I thought I saw them go inside a while ago," Mariana said "But I don't see them in the kitchen," she leaned left and right, trying to see inside the kitchen through the windows "Oh, I see them!" Mariana waved her hand at them.

Couple of seconds later, the back doors opened. Lena was tucking her blouse inside her jeans, when they stepped on the porch.

"There you are," Cooper called, holding both of their glasses up "We are ready for our first toast!"

"Oh," Stef was the first to step forward, she took both of the glasses and held on Lena's while, she finished tucking her blouse "What are we toasting?"

"To our young adults," Dana raised her glass as she looked around the table to the youngest generation. Stef and Lena came up to the table and everyone raised their glasses up to the middle of the table to clink glasses.


	12. Firehouse 11 Part I

**AN: To anyone, who is reading and is working/has worked as a paramedic - please, don't be shy on calling me out on stuff I get wrong in the near future. My knowledge (from TV shows and Google) is very limited and I would appreciate any kind of information to make it more realistic.  
**

 **Thank you in advance.**

 **Also, I apologize for the long break. I will try my best to keep updates in more regular.**

Jude POV

August 30th

If I look back at my life, I can remember multiple times, when I have woken up scared, excited or nervous before.

I remember the first time I woke up scared, like it happened yesterday. It was after the first night in this home. My mom was dead, my dad was in jail, but I had no idea, where they took my sister. I was completely alone. Unaware of what my future holds. There was absolutely no one I trusted at that point. Even thought, there were five other people, strangers, in this house, no one made me feel less lonely or scared. Over time, of course, I got close to each member of my foster family and learned that they are not that different from the family I used to have. Eventually I grew to trust and love them, like I had been born into the Adams Fosters clan. But the fear I felt, will forever be fresh in my memory.

When mama woke me up on the morning of my first day of Middle School, I had never felt more excited and eager to go to school. Finally I was going to attend the big kids school. I felt so grown up and I couldn't wait to start the new school year.

I have never liked doctors. Even though they help you get better, I can't help but to feel nervous every time before my appointment. All the times, moms have woken me up, when I was sick, to take me to a doctor, nervousness was the only thing I felt. There were so many tests and procedures they could do to me, I felt restless just by the thought of it. From the second my eyes were open, I start to dread the appointment, no matter how serious my illness was.

All the times I have woken up scared, excited or nervous, it was all about me. About events in my day, not someone else.

This morning, for the first time, I woke up feeling all of those emotions combined, not for myself. I was worried for my sister, who was starting her job today. If Callie had decided to pursue the life of a teacher, a career in music, photographer career or any other job that wasn't as dangerous as this one, I doubt if I would feel the things I felt this morning. I was thankful, that it was still Summer and school hadn't started yet. Don't know if I would be able to sit behind a desk concentrate on whatever the teachers are saying, with the worries about my sister.

I heard shower running from moms bathroom. Whichever mom was there, the other was probably downstairs in kitchen, making breakfast. There was dead quiet from the rest of the rooms. I knew Jesus was still sleeping, because I saw him. The girls bedroom doors were still closed, thus, I believe they are asleep as well. Brandon flew back to Filly two days ago, so I guess, that makes me the only kid awake at home right now.

The smell of coffee hit my nose the second I stepped on the stairs.

Walking inside the kitchen, I saw Lena being busy by the stove. Mama was dressed in her home clothes, older jeans and a shirt, slippers on feet. She was nursing a cup of coffee in her left hand, but holding the spatula in her other hand. Her hair was taken up. I heard her humming to herself.

"Morning," I announce myself as I walked towards the fridge

Lena turned around and returned the greeting "Good morning, buba. I was expecting Stef to come down, actually."

"I believe she's still in shower," I replied as I walked towards the fridge to see what I can find for breakfast

"I can crack another egg," mama offered after I had stood in front of the open fridge for a minute

"Nah," I shook my head refusing her offer "I'm going to eat cereal," I grabbed a carton of milk, which was half empty, and closed the fridge doors.

"You are up early. It's barely 7," mama said as I reached up for my favorite cereal. The second I lifted the box up, I knew it was empty. Too light.

"We are out of my favorite!" I told mama before tossing the empty box to trash can

"I'm going to mall today," she replied and sipped her coffee

"I couldn't sleep," I answered to her previous question as I took the next cereal box down. After I found a bowl, I went to get a spoon and set everything down on the kitchen table. As I sat down I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

"Something on your mind?" I heard the worried tone in mama's voice. She even set her coffee down. Clearly my answer had gotten her full attention.

"Kept thinking about Callie," I replied pouring cereal out in my bowl "At first I just remembered that it was her first day at work today, but...one thought led to another and..." I sighed, placing my hand on my carton box of milk preparing to lift it up "What if something bad happens to her?" I looked up to mama, wanting nothing more than for her to console me and tell me everything will be okay

"You are worried about her," mama concluded in a soft tone as she put the eggs on a plate for Stef "That's understandable, honey. To be honest, I'm a little bit worried about her first day as well," she turned off the stove, grabbed her coffee cup and sat on the opposite side of the table "It will take time for you and for the rest of us to get accustomed to idea of Callie being out there...doing, what she's doing."

"How long till you got used to mom being a cop?" I wanted to know, how long will I feel this way. This wasn't something that I had expected to happen. It just did. Out of nowhere. Before today, the thought of Callie working as a paramedic never bother me. All I felt was being proud of her, happy that she found her calling.

For some unknown reason, I didn't feel this way about mom. I blamed it on the fact, that Stef was being a cop long before I even knew her. She has worked as a cop for more than half of her lifetime. Mom is professional, experienced, she knows the protocol and laws inside out. Knowing her partner, Amy, who looks out for moms back, gives me even more sense of security. The fact that police officers have bulletproof vests and a gun to protect them is another reason for me to worry less. I knew that mom still risks her life out there, but I just had the feeling deep down, that mom can handle herself.

Lena sighed "Honestly, I still haven't gotten used to it. There hasn't been a day, when I don't worry about mom," she replied truthfully after taking a moment to gather her thoughts "But, I worry about you and your siblings constantly as well. It's a mom's thing."

Mama moved her cup a bit further, pressed on the table with her forearms and held her cup in both of her hands "What are you scared of the most?"

"What if her partner is some reckless idiot, who doesn't give a damn about safety and puts their life, but more importantly, my sisters life in danger? What if it's some guy, a douche, who constantly comes on to her? What if there is a call, where she has to risk her life to save some strangers? Her job is so unpredictable that I just...I...I don't know..." I rubbed my forehead as I struggled to express my fear

"Your sister has been preparing for this day for years! Callie is smart," Lena replied without missing a beat "She doesn't make rash decisions, she's not reckless. She knows she has a family waiting at home for her. You have to trust her, that she knows what's she doing! Callie can take care of whatever this jobs throws at her."

I sat motionless for a minute, until I finally I poured the milk over and immersed the spoon into my bowl of cereal. As I took into consideration everything mama told me, I swirled the cereal around. I knew mama was right - Callie can handle it - but what if I'm not ready to handle her risking her life like that?

Callie POV

The idea of my mom dropping me off at my job, was simply not sitting well with me. What would my new colleagues think of me? Probably that I'm still a child, whose parents have to give me a ride. No, that was not acceptable. I wanted to make a good first impression. Walking was an option of course, but I would feel much more confident if I drove up myself.

It wasn't hard for me to convince mom to give me the car today. Now that I thought about it, mom might have already anticipated that I would ask for the car.

I snatched the car keys out of moms hands "Thanks!" Cooper was leaned at the door frame of the kitchen, smiling as he observed us from afar.

"Sure, sure," mom smiled at me "Here," she grabbed couple of dollar bills from her wallet "Refill the tank, when you drive back, please."

"Will do!" I grabbed the money, folded it in half and showed it in my uniform pants pocket. It will be days till I get my first salary. Till then, unfortunately, I still have to live on moms neck. I couldn't wait to be more independent. I was ready for my life to truly kick off.

I was about to bend down and pick up the bag I had packed myself for today, when mom spoke up "Can I get a hug before you go?" Amy wondered, holding her arms out "Or not," she slowly started to lower her arms as I continued to look at her "-if it that makes you feel-"

I leaped into moms arms, giving her a tight squeeze and receiving one back as well. Her gun on her hip, pressed to my stomach, making the hug slightly uncomfortable, but I pushed through, not wanting to break the hug. Not that I was going to ever admit it to her, but I wanted this hug more than anything right now. If it wasn't for my mom supporting me, I doubt that I would start this job today. I owe her everything.

"Be careful, okay?" she whispered in my ear as she continued to hold me close to her

"I will!"

"Don't do anything stupid!"

"I won't!"

"Look out for your partner!"

"I will!

"Don't crash the ambulance."

I chuckled "I won't, mom!"

"Come back home!" Her voice had changed a bit, I suspected she had tears in her eyes and

"I will, mom! I love you!" I kissed her cheek, before pulling out of the hug

"Love you, honey!" mom smiled proudly of me "Have a great first day!"

"Good luck, Cal!" Cooper walked up to me and gave me a quick hug, he patted his hand on my back as I did to him

"Thanks!" I grabbed my the bag and tossed it onto my other shoulder "Okay, got to go otherwise I will be late!" I hurried out to my moms old Volvo, got inside, tossed my bag to the passenger seat and sat behind the wheel.

I paused briefly, as I tried to take a snapshot of this moment. There was a time, when I thought, I would never in a million years, get to pursue my dream. But despite everything life threw at me, I'm here. There were butterflies in my stomach and I couldn't stop smiling to myself.

"First day of the rest of my life," I said to myself as I started the car

* * *

My heart was beating faster than normally, as I was walking towards the fire department, where I was assigned to the Ambulance 27. There were two big red firetrucks in the hangar. Next to them was the ambulance, which I presume, I was going to drive.

I was met by my Captain by the hangar entrance. He was a tall, white man. I believe he was at least in his fifties. Captain was wearing a white, short sleeved uniform shirt and a dark blue or black uniform pants, couldn't tell in this light. There was a radio across his chest. As he extended his arm to me, I saw a burn scar that went all the way from his wrist and disappeared underneath his shirt.

"Captain Raymond Jennings," He said as she shook my hand "Callie Scott Ellis, I presume?"

"Yes, sir!" the excitement I felt was running from my feet to my head. If I couldn't contain my posture better, I would be shaking in excitement.

"Welcome to Firehouse 11!" He said as he gestured to the hangar and the building behind him

"Glad to be here," I smiled back

"Let me show you around and introduce you to the people you are going to be working side by side," Captain started to walk towards the building entrance, I followed him. His pace was much faster, I had to pick mine up.

As we walked he started to tell me about the history of this house. It opened in the 2000. He's been the Captain for the last 6 years and from what he told me, apparently, everyone thought he was the best Captain in the city. I will have to check this fact with others, but for the time being I believed him. He seemed professional and serious, but still he seemed like a down to earth guy.

Captain introduced me to few of the firefighters who worked at this house. They were all middle aged, few even had grayish hair. I doubt any of them were as young as I was. If I counted correctly, at least 5 of the guys had wedding rings on their fingers. I met so many people in such a sort time, that I barely remember their names. The youngest looking was Aiden, the short one was Xavier, but the one with the most meat on his bones - Linus. The rest of the names were gone from my memory the second I was introduced to the next colleague.

When we entered the dressing room, I came face to face with my partner, with whom I was going to spend hours in the ambulance together. It took me a couple of seconds to realize it, but I recognized her. We've met before, couple a years ago. It was a brief meeting. All I did was walk pass her in a fast pace and I didn't even have the decency to greet her back. If I'm honest, I was rude. Beth probably thought I was freak or a weirdo. There is no way of knowing, how things would have turned out if Markus hadn't died. Maybe they still would be a couple, living together. Who knew, maybe we could have been family if things had turned more serious between her and Markus.

"Beth, meet our newest recruit - Callie Scott Ellis," Captain introduce us unaware that we had met before "Callie, this is Beth Morris. Your partner."

Her eyes gave no sign that she did remember me as we shook hands. This is going to be interesting.


	13. Firehouse 11 Part II

Callie POV

I was sitting in the back of an ambulance, doing the inventory with Beth. Whenever we got to a new medical equipment or drug, Beth quizzed me on some of the stuff by asking me basic questions. I assume it wasn't for me to refresh my memory, but for her to make sure I know what I'm doing, thus, ensuring she can trust me with this stuff. It was also a great way to get get acquainted with the location where each medicine stood, where I could find gauze or syringes, in which box can I find Epinephrine and so on.

So far, I had put off the personal questions. The last thing I wanted was for her to think I'm too obtrusive. We will have plenty of time to get to know each other better as this was only my first hour in the new job. In the 9 to 12 hours work shifts we will not only spend countess hours out in the field helping people, a good amount of time it will be just the two of us in the ambulance driving to and from scenes and hospitals, but we will also have time when we will be waiting for our next call in the firehouse.

Once we were done checking the equipment, Beth spoke as I jumped out of the back and closed the doors behind me "Did you know, until you showed up, I was the only woman who has ever worked in this firehouse?"

"Really?" I couldn't believe my ears. I knew that mostly men are firefighters, but I had assumed that there had been woman EMT's here before me. At least in my class, there had been woman superiority.

"Yeah," Beth replied as we walked towards the firehouse "So don't be freaked out by all of the attention the guys give you. Especially Kyle, he's a player," she warned me "You know Kyle, right? The one with the perfectly hair."

"Yeah, I met him. Captain introduced me to everyone," I replied opening the entrance doors for Beth to go through first "I don't remember all of their names, but I do remember Kyle."

"It will take a few days. They are all really nice guys once you get to know them," Beth answered walking pass me, but then turned around, walking backwards to look at me "You do remember my name, right?"

"I remember you - Beth Morris," I assured her and smiled at her

"Never forgot you," I said quietly to myself, thinking back to the time, when Marcus had invited her over to the house for dinner and I met her for the first time. I had barely made any eye contact. She had tried to start a conversation with me at the dinner, but I hadn't said a single word back to her. Amy had started a new topic the second she had realized I had no plan on answering Markus girlfriend.

It was at the funeral, when Beth and I shared our very first, yet brief conversation. I still remember the day, like it had happened yesterday.

People were starting to disperse from the cemetery after the burial. Only the closet relatives and friends were left remaining. Sensing that Amy had wanted a moment alone at her husband and son graves, I walked away, just like the rest, but with no real destination in mind. That was, until I saw Markus girlfriend sitting on the nearby bench, crying her eyes out, still morning her boyfriends death. Seeing how heartbroken and how hard had she been crying at the funeral, was what made me realized just how much she had loved Markus, despite their young age.

What I did next, was very unlike me and I had no idea what had gotten into me, but I walked over to her and sat down next to her. I offered her a napkin to blow her nose out, without saying anything to her. Beth appreciated the nice gesture from me.

"It's not fair…he-they didn't deserve to die," Beth whispered after she had blown her nose out and wiped the tears that were on her cheeks.

After witnessing in how much pain everyone around me had been at the funeral, in particular Amy, I had wished I had accepted Aarons offer the other day and went to the game with him. At least then Amy hadn't lost her son, only her husband. She would be in less suffering.

I don't have a death wish, I just...if I had the chance, I would chose his life over mine. If I had known, what would happen, I would take Markus places, without thinking about it twice. Because my life is not worth anything. Markus had a bright future in head of him. He was loved by so many people. In comparison, I'm not loved by anyone and I couldn't call my future a future at all. The chances are that I'm either arrested, end up living on the street or I'm dead even before I reach 21. There was no doubt in my mind - no one would have shed a tear over my death. No one would miss me the way these people are missed.

"It's my fault," I admitted, it was a surprise to myself as well. Beth heard me and her head snapped up to me. She was looking at me with big eyes, waiting for an expectation.

"Aaron had offered me to go to the game…I refused," I continued to share despite the fact that I didn't even know her. Maybe that's exactly why I had decided to open up to Beth, because I knew I would never see her again. There would be no further disscusions about it, no follow up question, no talks about why I felt the way I did.

"It should have been instead of Markus," looking across cemetery to Amy, who still stood by their graves alone, crying over her loss, I added in a whisper "If I could, I would take his place - it would have saved so much pain, so many tears. No one would have cried for me..." Seeing Amy cry, hurt me more than I could ever imagine it. I had never thought I would have such strong feelings for my foster parent. This wish or desire to protect Amy from any kind of pain, was new to me.

Harold had come up to us at that point, which had put a stop to our conversation - my confession.

"Behold, the room where you will spend most of the time!" Beth announced as we entered the break room

It was a large room, looked more like a hall actually. Very high ceiling. Hard wood floor. Three large windows shed lifght into the room from the left side. At the far end, was the kitchen part. It was separated from the rest of the room with kitchen counters. One of the firefighters was making himself a sandwich there.

On the right, there was a sort of a lounge area. It had two soft armchairs and a large couch. Kyle along with two others firefighter were watching some reality TV show and laughing about how silly it was. After getting a better glance on the screen, I recognized the show as the Bachelor. It was the last rose ceremony. They were now discussing, more like arguing about, who will the bachelor keep from the two remaining ladies.

To my left was a long table. The squad team guys were sitting at the far end of it, playing cards. Poker to be exact. On the wall, by the large table, there were bunch of photos of the whole firehouse team and what looked like cuts from newspapers and web pages where the firehouse had been mentioned. There were two photos that stood out as they looked more like a memorial. The two men who were in those photos, were photographed in their full uniform and they had a plate underneath their photo frames, along with a name and two dates - birth and death.

Beth and I sat down at the free end of the table. I had walked around the table so I would be sitting facing the whole hall as I wanted to take in the room a little bit more to get accustomed to it, but Beth sat oppose me.

"Scott Ellis," she said to herself as she watched me closely "Scott?" Beth emphasized raising her eyebrow up a little. I was sensing that the name had started to stir up some old memories

"Yep," I said averting my eyes back on my partner trying to sound as casual as I could. Unintentionally and unknow to my own knowledge, I had started to play with the old leather bracelet around my wrist, which I had gotten for Amy's birthday. I had one with moms name on, but mom had one with my name on.

"Why you ask?" this was the perfect set-up for me to clear the air. To let her know, how we had met before. I don't believe there would ever be a better time to do so. Simply blurring it out, didn't seem like a nice way to do it.

"Nothing," she looked down to her hands, I had a feeling she got slightly scared of the possibility that I shared some sort of connection to her ex-boyfriend "It's just-"

Beth couldn't finish her sentence, because the alarm rang out. The dispatcher called out, which emergency workers were needed. Truck 36 and Ambulance 27. That meant this was going to be my first call on the job.

"Let's go!" Beth was up to her feet first, while all I thought at the moment was - _crap_ \- for the perfect moment was ruined. But job called and I couldn't ignore it, so I got up as well and followed my partner close behind. The firefighters got into their suites and boots, while we went to the ambulance.

As I started the engine, I felt oddly calm and confident that I'm going to do good job on my first call. I had trained for this. I felt prepared and as of right now, I didn't feel scared at all. We had everything we needed in the back of the ambulance to help people. In case I had any doubt, I knew I could turn to Beth for guidance.

I drove out of the hanger with a small, barely visible smile on my lips feeling like I belong here. Yes - this is what I was meant to do! I'm in the right place.

* * *

It was a gas leak. While our colleagues, went inside with gas masks to stop the gas leak, Beth and I remained outside the building and aided to the residents of the apartment building, who had ran outside. Thankfully, there weren't a lot of people home at the time. Mostly older people and women with small children. We checked everyone out to make sure no one needed a ride to the hospital. Most of the people had gotten out pretty fast and had avoided inhaling the gas for too long. Though, there was only one older woman, who was wheelchair bound and had had trouble getting out on her own. She had inhaled the gas for a bit too long and needed our medical attention. We took her to the nearest hospital, for further medical attention, before driving back to the firehouse.

Overall, my first call had ended on a good note. The gas leak was stopped, everyone was alive and safe, no casualties. Our Captain praised us the job well done afterwards.

Once we returned to the firehouse, the firefighters, who hadn't been called, had made dinner for everyone. Mashed potato's and meatballs, with salads on side. I would have never guessed these guys were good cooks, but once again I was reminded to never judge a book by its cover. These men were all strong, big guys, who could break down doors and carry you through fire to save you if necessarry, but as I learned during the dinner, most of them were real softies on the inside. Jokes and laughter seemed to be a integral part of daily life and something they couldn't live without.

Sadly, our dinner was cut short as another call came in. This time it was only for the ambulance. It was a man, who had fallen down the stairs and broken a leg. As we arrived there, we secured the leg, got him in the ambulace and then took him to hospital so the doctors and nurses can take care of him.

Besides my colleagues at the firehouse, I met a lot of new people at the hospitals. Beth seemed to know a lot of nurses and doctors who worked there. She had shared a brief conversation them for a minute, introducing me to them as well, before we left. Those were short exchanged, but it was a great pleasure to meet other people, who work in this field and who I will probably get to see a lot in the near future.

We returned back to the firehouse, but we had only gotten a 10 minute break till we got the next call about a man, who had collapsed in the middle of the street. Afterwards it was a kid, who didn't have his insulin with him, but then we were called to a local school where a football match had been going on. In the heat of the game, one player was tackled so hard that he had been knocked out unconscious.

In the end, after receiving those back to back calls, it turned out to be a very busy first day and I didn't get a good chance to continue the conversation I had with Beth in the firehouse.

* * *

We were in the dressing room, changing into casual clothes after taking a shower, when I no longer could take it. I closed my locker and turned to Beth, who was now putting her necklace back around her neck after taking it off for shower.

"You don't remember me, do you?" I blurted out, unable to stop myself from avoiding this conversation further on. I didn't want this ' _secret_ ' between us. I just wanted to clear the air between us. Talk it through, so that I don't have to carry it around with me anymore, thus, allowing me to focus more clearly on the job, not personal stuff.

"I'm sorry?" Beth turned to me, perplexed by my sudden statement. I bit my tongue afterwards, because this is exactly what I had wanted to avoid in the first place. This awkward moment, this stare down. All of a sudden, I got cold feet and asking her about it, no longer felt like the right choise. I wasn't even sure, why this thing was bugging me so much to begin with. It felt like I was in American rollercoaster, going up and down, up and down, not being able to come up with decission.

I tilted my head down and averted my look on the tiles beneath me "You know what…forget it," slowly I shook my head kicking myself mentally for even starting this topic "I'm sorry I said anything. It's probably best to not bring up the past. I'll see you in the morning," I picked up my bag from the bench and walked pass her to the exit

"I know who you are!" Beth called, when I had opened the doors to the hallway, making me stop dead in my tracks. I let go of the door nub and turned to her. The doors shut close behind me.

After a long silence and a stare down between us, Beth spoke "You're the kid Markus parents were fostering, before..." she stopped mid sentece and choked up, unable to say it out loud

Maybe I wasn't so unforgettable after all or maybe something gave me away. My surname for one, or the bracelet around my wrist or maybe it was those few glances had thrown at her, that were a second too long, when I wondered if she remembers me, or all the times, I had looked like I wanted to say something, but didn't, because I got scared of the conversation to come.

I took two steps closer to her "Do you have plans tonight?"

"No, unless you call falling asleep by TV a plan," Beth chuckled softly at her own line. Once the smile dispered, she became a lot more serious and warily asked "How is she...I mean, Amy? How is she doing? Is she still a cop?"

"Want to go for a ride?" I asked, hiding a suggesting that I take her to see her so she can ask for herself. I was sure, mom would love see her too. Not only for old time sake, but also to meet the person, who I was working with side by side and who is suppose to have my back out in the field.

Beth picked up my hidden agenda and a smile slowly grew on her lips, before she nodded her head, understanding what I was asking her.

Little did I know, that Beth was going to see not only Amy again, but meet a lot more people.


	14. Firehouse 11 Part III

Amy POV

It had been couple of weeks, since the last time our home was so full. We barely had the room for all of us in the living room, with most of the Adams Foster family members here, but we always have managed to make it work. The only ones who weren't here and were missing all of the fun was Brandon, who had flew to his university couple of days back, and Callie, who was still at work.

In the morning, I had no clue, that my evening would turn out this way. I had figured we would have a quiet evening with Callie telling all about her first day at her new job. The plans changed, when Stef told me about how worried Jude had seemed about Callie in the morning. Obviously, the young boy had his doubts about Callie's line of work. Around lunchtime, Mariana had sent me a message, asking if I had any news about how Callie's days was going. She had messaged Callie as well, but she hadn't answered, so Mariana had turned to me, hoping I would have some insight. Stef received a text from Brandon hour before our shift ended, asking about how Callie had settled in her job. After three of the five Adams Foster kids, had reached out worried about Callie, I knew my plans for the day had to change. Not soon after I checked in with Cooper to make sure he's alright with having guests over. He had no problem with it, so I invited all of the Adams Foster family over so everyone could see Callie once her shift was over and see with their own eyes that she was in fact good. Not much of a suprise - they all agreed almost instantly. There was no way of knowing how Callie would feel about a small gathering, but knowing my daughter, I was sure, she would be okay with it and won't send them away, especially if she sees how concerned everyone was.

On my way home, I stopped at a store and bought something to put on the table. I bought few extra wine bottles for I knew I'm going to be drinking it with either one of the moms. From the fruit stand I got some grapes, cherries and apples. Also grabbed couple of bags of chips - the kids loved it. I couldn't walk pass the salmon, it seemed like a great appetizer. And some other snacks, some candy.

Now all of the food, stood on the coffee table in the living room. Everyone had found a place to sit down. I was on the couch along with the twins and Jude. Frankie was mostly on move, walking around the living room. One moment she was in Stef's lap, other she was climbing around Jesus, then she was standing by the window, looking out or simply standing by the coffee table eating grapes one by one off the plate. Stef and Lena were sat in the armchairs, but Cooper had brought a chair from the kitchen and placed it between one of the armchairs and the couch.

"I think I start to understand, how my parents felt, when I started to work as a cop!" I confessed as I poured more wine into Lena's glass, then Cooper's, but finally mine as well.

"I'm so glad we won't have to find out how it feels!" Lena smirked reaching for her refilled glass, happy that their kids so far have chosen to study in fields, that don't put them in harms way each day.

"I think I might switch from construction to being firefighter," Jesus said casually before drinking his soda, punishing his mom for her previous statement. I could tell by the straight face he was trying to hold, that he was just messing with his moms. Physical work, working with hands, using tools, building stuff - it was what Jesus was good at and he enjoyed doing it. As he once told it, the most rewarding thing was seeing the end product in front of his own eyes, not on the paper blueprint.

I chuckled, but both, Lena and Stef, faces fell and they got serious the next moment "Um-" Stef dragged glaring at her middle son, not impressed at all "No you won't!"

"I might!" Jesus said in all seriousness

"I start to think about joining the army!" Jude chimed in in effort to irk his moms as well, but lost the seriousness, when he smirked after he glanced to Jesus. Still, seeing that their youngest son was playing around, didn't make moms to relax.

"You-" Lena pointed at their youngest son "If you keep joking like that, will be grounded till you turn 40!"

"Maybe the FBI will hire me, if I hack their system?" Mariana was certainly not going to sit this one out as she added to what her brothers had said previously "And I will end up working for a secret government service, helping them to stop terrorists, serial killers and the most wanted criminals out there by hacking their systems, reading their emails, tracing their steps on our grounds-"

"Stop!" Stef shook her head with her eyes closed, not wanting to even picture her daughter in that sort of job, that could trace a terrorist back to her and put her in any harms way "Please stop torturing us!" she ended up pleading with their kids

"I want to become a cop, like mom!" Frankie announced much to everyone's surprise. I couldn't even tell if she was being serious or did she say that just to fit in with the other kids.

"Oh my g-d! You are killing us!" Lena threw her head back, but Stef reached for Lena's glass and took a long sip, maybe even too long for she was the driver

"I can't think of a way, Brandon's music career might turn dangerous," Jude thought out loud, sharing a look with all of his siblings. It didn't take long for the other kids to give out ideas, much to Stef and Lena's horror.

"What if he writes a song, but terrorists thinks it contains a secret code and they end up tracking him down-" Jesus suggested reaching for the salty nuts on the coffee table

Before I could even realize, Lena's glass was empty and she was handing it to me "We're out of wine!" Lena handed me her empty glass, that Stef had helped empty. Smirking, I pour what was left in the bottle into Lena's glass and then set the empty wine bottle by the leg of the coffee table.

I was very surprised about Jesus creativeness. Smirking at him, I replied "You watch way too many movies."

"Hey, it could happen!" Jesus shrugged not dismissing the idea totally

"Cooper, grab a new wine bottle, when you come!" I shouted out to my husband, who went to kitchen to make few more salmon sandwiches. The first batch we made together, were eaten in matter of 15 minutes of us all sitting down in the living room.

"That was fast!" Came a shout back

"Shouldn't Callie be home soon?" Jude asked, looking at his watch on his right wrist

"Anytime now," I agreed, glancing to the watch. Her shift was over 30 minutes ago, but one of the cons of this kind of job - it doesn't have office hours. If an emergency occurs, they can't just leave the second the clock ticks 6 or 9. There is no real way of telling, when she would be home. No one is looking at time, while at the scene. It might be she was still at scene or driving a patient to hospital.

"I don't mind waiting," Mariana said casually "I miss us hanging out like this, even if Brandon and Callie are not here. We used to spend so much time together, when we were all in school."

"You still hang out," Lena chimed in, glancing to her daughter, when Cooper walked back in the room, holding a new plate of small sandwiches and the wine bottle. He opened the wine and poured it in Lena's glass, then sat down quietly in his spot.

"But not as often," Mariana admitted, while the rest of the kids, nodded their heads agreeing.

"You know you can come over anytime you want," I patted her knee gently as I looked at her with a warm smile on my lips

"You're like the second mom to us…" Mariana stopped mid sentence and looked at her moms and corrected herself "I meant to say, third..." After glancing to Jude, she corrected herself again, making me believe the twins did not see their birth mom as a mom at all, just someone who gave birth to them "Or the fourth..." Mariana looked up to me, smiling once she was done

"The number ain't important. I'm just glad that you didn't think of me as your moms crazy and weird partner," I joked

The next second we heard Frankie exclaim happily, making us all turn towards her "She's here! She's here!" She got quiet a moment later and hurried back to Lena, climbed in her lap. The excitement was gone and she looked shy all of the sudden.

"Aren't you going to meet her by the door?" Lena wondered, picking up the drastic change in her behavior

"There's someone with her," Frankie added in quiet voice as she sat in her moms lap. It got all of us curious. We weren't expecting anyone else but Callie. I clearly wasn't dressed for guests as I was in my home clothes, old jeans and t-shirt, bare feet and slippers

"I wonder who is with her?" Mariana whispered to her siblings on the couch.

The room all of a sudden was quiet and everyone tried to act on their best behavior because no one knew who this stranger was. There was defiantly some light nervousness and curiosity going around the room. Duke, who had been sleeping quietly in the hallway, got up, sniffed the air and started to bark at the front doors because of the new scent coming from the porch.

The front doors opened. Duke stopped barking. Wiggling his tale, he moved towards Callie, greeting her. Callie was petting him as he moved around her, happy that she was home. But his mood change the next second as Duke started to bark at whoever was standing on the porch.

"Easy boy! This is Duke!" I heard Callie introduce him to the stranger "She's friendly, Duke."

Once Duke had gotten a good sniff of the new person in his house, he calmed down and went to lay back down in this spot, next to the stairs.

"Come on in," Callie said to whoever was still standing in the doorway. There was a shuffling sound, like some was taking off shoes and jacket.

Rubbing my hands together, I got up from the couch. Just as I was up to my feet, Callie appeared in the doorway. A huge smile grew on her face, seeing most of the Adam Fosters here.

"Hey, mom! Hey everyone!" Callie smiled and put her bag down by the doors "I thought I saw your car up front," She casually said to Stef

"Everyone's here," Stef replied "We were all worried about how your first day went. You know us," she threw her arms up a bit "We just couldn't sit in our home.." my partner grinned before added "So we came here instead!"

"I'm in one piece and it was awesome! I can't wait to tell you guys all about it!" Callie said in louder voice, so everyone else could hear. Her look mostly lingered on me and Jude.

"Glad to hear it went well," I heard Lena reply quietly to Callie

"Who is your guest?" I asked stepping over the twins and Jude's extended legs

"Um…" Callie hesitated for a moment, she always did, when she was nervous and was trying to think of a way, how to tell me something she doesn't know how I'm going react to it. She looked to the part of the hallway by the front doors that was hidden to us from the living room. "I met someone today..." Callie said secretive, when she glanced back to me "Old friend of yours."

"Of mine?" I pulled my forehead up in a frown as I could not think of anyone, who Callie could have ran into that she would bring over here today.

"She's also my partner," I heard Callie say right before the person stepped up next to Callie. My eyes were glued to the woman next to her as I simply could not believe my eyes.

Jude POV

The woman standing in the doorway, next to Callie, looked 3-4 years older than Callie. It could be the glasses on her eyes made her look older. Her brown hair was taken up in a high pony tale, same as Callie. She was an inch or two taller than my sister as well and she looked a more fit and athletic than Callie, but the body build was the same.

Amy was still standing still, taken completely off guard. Her hands flew up to her face and she covered her mouth as if she had not been expecting to see a familiar face, especially, this familiar face.

Jesus had the exact puzzled features as I did, so I knew I would have no luck of getting an answer out of him, so I leaned closer to Mariana so I could whisper "Who is that?"

"No idea!" Mariana whispered back, being just as clueless as I was.

When I looked over to Cooper and Lena, I noticed they seemed to be confused and intrigued to meet her. Stef on the other hand, seemed like was trying hard to concentrate to recognize her. It might be she has seen the woman, Callie's partner before, but can't recall, which made me guess, Amy and Stef might know her from police work.

"Oh my gosh!" Amy finally lowered her hands and exclaim "Beth!"

"Hi, Mrs. Scott," the woman, Beth, smiled shyly, her fingers nervously tapping at her leg. She did, however, manage to hold the gaze.

"Look at you!" Amy stepped closer to her, with her arms out "All grown up, " She placed her hands on the guests upper arms and looked her up and down. Beth tilted her head down, hiding the smile, but then looked back up to Amy, almost proudly.

Callie was still standing next to them, but had taken a one step sideways to give them a bit more space so they won't feel overcrowded. My sisters was smiling at Amy and Beth, but in her eyes, I noticed tears. Happy tears as Callie did not look sad, only emotional.

"Can I hug you?" Amy asked the woman. Beth nodded her head back and leaned into Amy's hug. Before she closed her eyes, I saw tears lingering in the woman's eyes as well. I can only assume Amy had gotten emotional as well. The hug was long, like two friends hugging after a long time.

"How are you?" Amy asked in a caring, gentle manner once the embrace was over

"I'm good...I'm good," Beth confirmed nodding her head, while running her thumbs over her eyes

"Yeah?" Amy asked, tilting her head a little to right, wanting to make sure

"Yeah!" Beth confirmed with a firm nod "I should be asking you that," she chuckled award afterwards

"Um," Amy hesitated a little "As you can seen-" she turned sideways to the rest of us "I'm as good as I could be!" Amy ran her hand quickly and swiftly over her mouth before she continued "Let me introduce you."

"Whoa...last I remember it was just you and Callie," I heard Beth comment quietly before Amy started to speak

Amy put a hand on Cooper's shoulder, right before he stood up to shake hands "My second husband Cooper," they moved on to my moms "This is my partner Stefanie Adams Foster," Amy gestured to my mom

"So official!" Stef chucked before shaking Beth's hand "You can call me Stef!"

"Her stunning wife Lena," Amy moved on to mama, who had Frankie sitting in her lap, so she didn't stand up like mom had

"Hello!" mama had a warm smile on her lips

"This young lady is Francesca, but she goes by Frankie! Their youngest," Beth simply smiled at my younger sister, who was still very much shy sitting in mama's lap, trying to hide in mama's shoulder

"There we have Mariana, Stef and Lena's older daughter," my sister waved her hand back cheerfully

For some reason, Amy skipped over me and went straight to my brother "And Mariana's twin, Jesus!" Jesus had a firm handshake, everyone could see it

"And last but not least, Stef and Lena's youngest son and Callie's brother - Jude!"

"Brother?" Beth seemed shocked, hearing the short introduction about me and looked back at Callie, who was standing quietly by the doorway. My sister just shrugged her shoulders looking all innocent.

"Everyone," Amy put her hand on her shoulder "This is Beth Morris."

"It's nice to meet all of you!"

"Well, you haven't actually met their oldest son - Brandon. He's at univiversity."

"Oh, wow...five kids," Beth managed to choak out, full of suprise "So, if you two are brother and sister," Beth looked between Callie and me "And you all are siblings, does that mean-"

"Together we make a family. One big, messy family!" Callie conclued walking deeper in the room

"How exactly do you know each other, if you don't mind me asking?" Lena asked innocently

Amy and Beth glanced to one another, before Amy replied "Markus and Beth were dating, when...uh, you know..." she didn't have to say it for everyone to understand

"Oh!" was heard in the room, before an awkward silence sat in as no one knew what to say or to what subject to move on. Everyone just looked around, waiting on someone else. Beth seemed slightly uncomfortable as she was basically thrown to the wolves. And we all just looked at the new blood, wondering what was she like, what was her relationship with Amy, had Callie actually been friends with Beth before today.

Cooper stopped the silence by saying "I'll go get you a chair!" After a short moment Cooper returned from the kitchen with a chair. He set the chair down at the free spot.

Before Beth could sit down and we would start to gently interrogate her and question Callie about first day, I got up from the couch "You can take my seat," I offered

"Oh, thank you," Beth replied gingerly

"Callie, can I talk to you for a moment?" I walked up to my sister and whispered to her. Callie looked at me puzzled, but recovered quickly and nodded her head back. We made our way to the kitchen, far away from everyone's ears.

"You look worried? What's the matter?" Callie asked once we were alone. I stood by the table tapping my fingers nervously at the dining chair backrest, trying to figure out how to answer her question.

In the end, I decided to show it, rather than explain it. After couple of fast steps I was up to her and wrapped my hands tightly around her, pulling her close. I could tell, she was suprised at first as I hadn't felt her hug back. But eventually, I felt her hold me back. Never before had I needed a hug from my big sister as I did now.

"I'm okay, Jude!" she whispered to me in a way to try to sooth me

"Today was hard," I admitted quietly "I was so worried about you."

"You don't have to worry about me!" Callie replied casually, as if it was so easy

Her statment made me end the hug as I simply needed to give her a look "How can you say that?" I threw my arms up expressing my concer not just with my voice anymore "Of course I'm going to worry. You're my big sister! I care what happens to you. We might now live under the same roof and call different people our parents, but it doesn't change how much I love you!" Callie remained silent, letting me vent and say what was on my heart

I shifted in my stance, took a small step back to have a better view of my sister "It makes me restells and nervous thinking about the things you will have to do on your job. I barely slept the last night. All I could think about today - was you. I hate that you are risiking your life out there...I don't like it!"

"Your mom risks her life everyday as well. Don't you worry about her as well?"

"Not as much," I admitted shamefully as I averted my gaze down to the floor

"Why is that?"

It was because mom was lot, lot more experienced, she was a cop long before I even met her. Callie was all new to this. Cops also have bullet proof vests. Paramedics aren't issued any weapons. Mom knows self defense. Cops can call for backup if in danger. Mom also has a gun, which I have seen her use in a gun ring. But mostly my mind was put at ease because of one person "Because I know Amy has her back!"

"And I have Beth and about 10 big, tall, strong firefighters!" my sister said with a chuckle as she came up to me and put her hands on my shoulders

"But I don't know them!" I reasoned back, looking down at her. There might be 100 of firefighters, the same amout of cops and a swat unit - it's not going to stop me from worrying about my sister. Maybe if mom and Amy would be at all of the same calls as Callie was. But still, just maybe.

"Then how about you start by getting to know my partner?" Callie suggested with a smile. Once she saw that my mind was not fully put at ease, at it probably never will, Callie pulled me in a hug "I know what I'm doing, Jude. Trust me, when I say, I won't do anything to jepordize me coming home, seeing your face, hugging you. I'm taking all of the precautions that there are. We're a team out there - it's not just me out there, alone. I am being careful!"

"Can you like….at least try to answer my messages, when I send you them?" I had sent her three messages, none of which she had replied. If she had at least sent me a smily face or poop smiley face - it would have put my mind at ease a little bit.

Callie laughed leaning out of the hug "I'll do my best!" she leaned up and kissed my forehead "I love you!"

"I love you,too!"

"Why don't go back and join the rest of the family?" Callie nodded towards the living room

"Yeah," I nodded back. Side by side, arms wrapped around each other waist we walked back into the living room, where now casual conversation was going around as Beth was telling everyone, how Callie did on the first day.

Jesus tossed us both pillows and we sat down on them, joining the small family gathering.


	15. Playing God Part I

Callie POV

My probation time ended last week. Captain decided to keep me, so I guess I was doing something right. During the 3 months, I have gotten a lot closer to all of my colleagues and the time spent waiting around at the firehouse seem to pass faster.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Beth waved her hand in the air trying to stop me from rambling further. We were sitting at the fire station long table along with few firefighters, passing time chatting till our next call comes in.

"You are telling me you have a pepper spray, a baton, a taser and a whistle?" My partner leaned onto the table as she tried to specify. All of the guys, who were sitting at the table, were looking at me waiting for me to answer as well, I could see they were all curious as to why I had so many self-defence items.

"Yeah," I nodded back smiling, making my colleagues chuckle at me "My mom got me a pepper spray, my step-father got me a baton, Stef got me a taser, but Lena got me a whistle," I explained as simply as I could, but I could still tell some of the guys were not fully understanding, whose these people were, after all Beth was the only one who had gotten to know my full family.

"Have you ever used either one of those items?" Kyle, the fire fighter, wondered as he leaned back in the chair and put his hands behind his head

I racked my brain for a moment, before I replied "The taser has been used one time," I said before I tried to recall the day it happened

It was just few days after my final exams to become a paramedic. I had received the results and learned that I have passed all of the exams with flying colours. The first small celebration was at my home, with just my mom and Cooper. After that, Lena and Stef insisted on throwing me a little party at their home. At first I tried to tell them that they don't need to throw me a party, that I should be inviting them over, but Lena managed to persuade me by explaining that it wouldn't be a party, just a BBQ like they often used to throw, simply time to spend together and celebrate my achievement on the side.

The day for our small gathering was ideal. It was warm, barely any wind at all, no clouds, Sun was shining bright. Lena and Stef had set a table on the porch. Like always, we had like 10 different foods to choose from, wine for the adults, lemonade for the kids. Jude was acting as a DJ, making sure we always had music playing in the background. The grill was going, Jesus and Cooper were responsible for the meat. Mariana and I had helped make the salads and appetizer. Brandon was taking the time to play with Frankie, knowing he's going to miss out on lot during his time at university. After all, Frankie was starting first grade this year. Big, important event for such a little person. Overall, we couldn't wish for better company, better place and time to spend time together.

After most of the bowls and plates were empty, came a surprise to me. Mom, Cooper, Stef and Lena - all had gotten me a gift for graduation.

"I'm going to go first," Cooper said stepping forward holding a small box in his hand "My gift can knock anyone off their feet. Literally!" he concluded in one descriptive yet secretive sentence making me rack my brain over what was in the box.

I got slightly worried what he had gotten me, so I started to open the small box slowly, while holding my breath. As I got closer to the reveal, I kept looking up to Cooper more often, trying to see if his eyes would give away any more clues as to what was in this little box.

Once I lifted off the lid, I was left with a small, black, fist size, stick like object. It seemed like it was made to fit into a persons hand. At first I didn't understand what it was. I reached for it and took it our for closer examination. There was a small button at the side.

"Whoooooa!" I exclaimed the second I pushed the button. It was a collapsible baton, that revealed itself once pushed the button. Luckily I had been holding the item right, otherwise the small end of the baton would have hit me right in the face.

"This is awesome! Thanks Cooper!" I thanked him as I waved the thing in air, trying it our. It was super light,easy to hold yet I could tell it can do serious damage once it hit someone. I was even sure I could break someone's bones with this thing if I put enough force into the blow.

"Can I try it?" Jesus asked me, eyeing the baton in my hand

"Don't you dare test it on me!" I pointed at him, before I handed the baton over to Jesus.

Lena hurried up to me, with even smaller box and handed it over to me "Open mine next!" It was around the size of ring boxes. Much neater wrapped up. It had a small, red ribbon on top. Only Lena would take the time to wrap up a gift so perfectly, knowing that I was going to rip it open the second I got my hands on it.

I opened Lena's gift more neatly. Made sure the ribbon was intact and that the wrapping paper was not ripped. I even took the time to fold the wrapping paper up.

I burst out in joy laughter once I saw the silver whistle in a red strap attached "Oh my gosh…I love this!" I picked it up and blew into it. The joy on Lena's face that I loved the gift was indescribable. I started to get a sense of theme that was going around.

"You can always wear it around your neck, keep in your purse or even in your pocket. It's small, light, but it will always do it's job - get the attention!" Lena explained to me

"Thank you, Lena!" I said before I blew into the whistle to see how loud it was. It made everyone around put their hands over their ears for a moment, that's how long and long I blew into it.

"We get it, it works! Can you stop now? It's hurting our ears!" I heard Brandon comment from the side with a small smile

I put the whistle back into the box and for now set the box on the corner of the table. Mariana asked if she can check it out, I nodded back before I turned back to the adults.

"Okay…I guess it's mine time now," mom said stepping up holding her arms behind her back. She looked a bit ashamed to me. Her cheeks turned slightly pink, as she said "I forgot to wrap it."

I laughed back sincerity "My own mom couldn't even take 2 minutes of her time and wrap up a gift-I'm hurt mother!" I stated pretending to be hurt

Mom squinted her eyes at me, probably at the dislike that I called her - mother at the end "You will get over it," Mom replied

"Mom once gave me a gift in the plastic bag they had put it in at the store," Mariana chimed in, adding everyone to laugh even longer

"What's the point of wrapping up a brush?" Stef reasoned back, before making a face at her oldest daughter "Besides it's almost impossible to do so of it's irregual shape!"

"You could have put it in a box and then wrap it up," Lena reasoned back "Or at least added a ribbon."

"Hey!" Stef turned to her wife with a hurt facial expression "Are you trying to make me look bad?"

Lena put her palm on Stef's shoulder "Nothing I do can make you look bad, because you already made yourself look bad," she kissed Stef softly on her cheek, before everyone averted their attention back to Amy, who was still standing in front of me, with her hands behind her back

"Ta-daaaa!" Amy sang out as she held a small bottle out in her hands "It's a pepper spray!" she announced

"Are you for real?" I sounded almost too excised as I took it from mom

"Strongest stuff there is. This will burn your eyes for what will seem like eternity!" mom added, while I was reading the label on the bottle "The residue will be on the perp face for 24h reminding to never try to get his hands on you ever again!"

"Too bad I can't try it out," I sulked as I looked up to mom

"Have you ever been pepper-sprayed?" Jude wondered after looking at my gift from over my shoulder

"I have, at the academy. It's part of the training. Your mom has also probably been pepper-spayed as well," Amy replied but then glanced to Stef, who later on confirmed it

"Indeed, I have. It was Mike, actually, who had to pepper-spray me. Afterwards we went on a date," Stef reminisce casually as if that was no big deal. By the look on everyone's face, it was news to all us. Even Lena, who had leaned a bit further away from Stef to have a better view on her.

"Wait…you have never told me that story!" Brandon spoke up "Why haven't you or dad ever told me that?"

"Because it made for a super awkward date afterwards, that's why."

"Yeah…but that's also hilarious and it makes for a super story!" Jesus said as he collapsed the baton by pushing at the tip with his palm. It made a click sound once it was back to the starting position.

"That's from me," Stef stepped forward, handing me a gift bag. I handed the pepper-spray to Jude, who seemed to be very interested about it, before reaching for the final gift.

I peaked into the gift bag, then looked up to Stef all excited after seeing what was inside "My own teaser! Ha, this is so great!" I got the teaser out and pointed it at the ground

"It has 50,000 volts at impact. Enough to paralyze, whoever is bugging you for a second!" Stef informed me as I examined the taser.

"After-wards you can spray him so he won't be able to see for a moment," Jude wiggled the bottle in his hand, then Jesus whooshed out the baton and swung it around "Beat his ass with a baton!" Mariana blew into the whistle Lena had gotten me "and get attention to yourself so someone can come help you!"

Brandon added at the end "In the end just hit him with your purse to make sure he stays down!"

"I'm hoping I won't ever have to use either one of these, but…still, thank you everyone for getting me these. I'll make sure to carry one with me all the time." I said setting the taser on the table, before going over to each one of them to give a hug. I had a feeling mom was going to buy me one of the self-defence stuff, but I would have never guessed she would convince others to do so as well.

"We're hoping you never have to use those," Lena said as I gave the last hug to mom

"Is this the same kind you showed us at the station few weeks back?" Mariana wondered as she picked up the taser "The kind police sometimes use to apprehend suspects?"

"It's similar, but not the-" Stef's words were the last I heard, before I felt something struck my lover back. It was if someone had stabbed me with knitting needles. Hurt like hell. The next instance electricity was running through my whole body. My muscles locked up.

"Ugh….aaarrrhhhh! I heard myself grunt in pain

"Turn it off. TURN IT OFF!" I heard Stef call frantically

For a brief moment, I lost complete control of my whole body. I was paralyzed. Felt myself getting lower and lower to the ground. My knees gave up on me, completely. It must have been my mom, who caught me at first as I had stood right in front of her, but then Cooper must have helped her guide me gently to the ground, where I laid. My muscles still contracting. I felt the burn marks on my lower back despite the fact that I had clothes on.

"It's over! You're okay…you're okay, honey!" Mom repeated to me again and again as I slowly started to recover "Just breathe. Breathe honey!" Those were the worst 5 seconds of my entire life.

It took me couple of more seconds to finally get up from the ground, though everyone insisted that I take it slow and sit on my knees for a moment, till I recover some more.

"I'm so, so, so sorry. I didn't mean to!" A frightened and full of remorse Mariana crouched down in front of me "It was an accident." She leaned towards me to hug me, but I didn't say a a word back, just continued to stare at her, once she ended the hug.

"Please, forgive me!"

I said each word slowly as I stared at her "When I get my hands on you…I am going to kill you," I was not going to be so forgiving.

Mariana got up from the wood floor, but still kept looking down at me, sensing that I won't just hug her and pretend nothing happened "I didn't mean to," She repeated as I slowly started to get up to my feet. Mariana started to back off, one small step at a time, while keeping a close eye on me.

"Callie, don't-" Mom tried to stop me, before I took a step towards Mariana, while holding my right hand on my lower back where the probes had hit me. Mariana was smart. She was not going to wait around to see what I was going to do. Mariana took off running inside the house, screaming out, so I took after her.

Beth wiped the tears from her eyes that she got from laughing so hard. The guys were all enjoying my story.

"It's not funny. It hurt," I tried to say it with straight face, but failed as in the end, I burst out into laughter as well

"You know what makes this 10 times funnier," Beth said once she finally got her breath back "Mariana is so small and innocent looking."

"Don't underestimate her. She is tiny, but she's also really strong," I answered, but sadly our conversation was cut to an end, when a call came in. We all became quiet as we listened carefully, which of us were being needed. The call came in only for ambulance.

"Sorry boys," I clapped my hands as I got up "You will have to entertain yourselves for the next hour or so!"

We arrived at the scene about 5 minutes after we received the call. It was almost the city center. The call originated from an multiple story apartment building. Apartment 35-C was located on the 5th floor. We took the elevator up.

"This is it!" Beth said as we stopped at the doors. No one was there to meet us. It was complete quiet. The call hadn't said much, just that someone needed medical assistance in this apartment. It could have been a heart attack, maybe someone needed insulin or a kitchen accident where someone had chopped off a fingertip. We had no idea what we were dealing with.

Beth took the lead as the main paramedic and knocked on the door "This is the paramedics. Hello! Is anybody there?" she knocked on the door and made sure the people inside knew who we were before we heard someone coming towards the doors. The footsteps were faint and slow.

Someone rattled the chain on the other side of the doors. What we saw, once the doors were opened, made us speechless for a moment, our eyes to grow big and mouths dropped.

A teenage girl standing just in under ware and covered in blood. I wasn't sure if it was her blood or someone else. As I looked over her body, I did not see any cuts or injuries. But still, even thought there was no sign of any kind of injury, she was shaking. Clearly in shock. The girl was hugging herself, either to console her or to try and keep warm.

"Hey, what's your name?" Beth asked trying to form a bond with her

"Kim," she barely got over her lips.

"I'm Beth, this is my partner Callie. You called for help?" The girl nodded her head.

"May we come inside?" Once again, a nod. She stepped aside and let us in, closing the doors behind.

"Are you hurt?" Beth continued to question the poor girl.

This time, she shook her head and raised her left arm up, pointing towards the room inside "There...so much blood," Kim managed to stutter. Beth gave me a nod, telling me to go see, who she was talking about.

While I moved deeper into the apartment, Beth remained with Kim. I saw no one in the first room. It was a small kitchen and living room area. Nothing much, nothing too fancy.

When I looked down, I noticed bloody footprints. They were all over the room, like Kim had been pacing around. Following the blood footsteps, lead me to the other side of the room. There were doors there, which were partly open. They lead to the bedroom. I saw a bed, covered in white sheets and blanket. Out of precaution, I slowly pushed the doors open.

As I took a step inside the room, the white bed covers were no longer so white. There was a pool of blood in the middle of the room. I walked around to the other side of the bed and that was when I stopped dead in my tracks.

On the ground laid a man on his back, with scissors stabbed into his chest. I saw his chest move. He was alive. But just barley. The man only had his briefs on. He was having hard time breathing, his breaths were short, shallow.

But still, he managed to choke out, while staring straight to my eyes "H-help me!" some blood dripped out of his mouth

A desperate plead, from someone, who does not deserve to be helped.

I never thought this would ever happen. That I was going to be the one standing over him and watching him from above; that our roles would be reversed; that it was him, pleading to me rather than me, pleading to him.

His life was at my mercy.

I could let him die a slow, agonizing full death. It would be the kind of death, he deserved.

Or I can help him. I might even save his life. If not, I would have at-least ease his pain in his last seconds and maybe, maybe even held his hand. But does he deserve my help? After all that he did to me.

I also saw that he was scared. More scared than I have ever seen him.

He recognized me, even after all these years. I saw it in his eyes. Liam knew who I was even in the state he was in.

After all a rapist life hangs in the hands of one of his victim.


	16. Playing God Part II

**AN: I know, it has been over 4 months. And I do feel bad, that I made you wait for so long. But, when I lack inspiration, it's impossible to even write a sentence even thought I had the scenes in my head for weeks.**

 **I wanted to say a big thank you to** ** _Trebles. and .Tones_ \- your review to the story, really brightened me up. I had started to write this chapter, when I saw your review and it just helped. It somehow reminded me of the time I was starting to write this AU and it sparked some ideas for this chapter. So, truly, from the bottom of my heart - thank you.** **  
**

 **I am not sure how many more mini-stories I will manage to write. Trying to finish this is a struggle. Lack of time, lack of ideas, lack of inspirations (only for this AU for some reason) is not helping, at all. I don't want to leave this in the state of 'in-progress', but I'm not sure I can manage to write a proper ending for this to be "completed" story. Kind of hating myself for starting this stroy, while not knowing I can finish it.**

 **Apologies if there are a lot of grammatical mistakes. It's late and I'm hoping I get to update my other story as well.**

 **Hope you enjoy :)**

Callie POV

"-he likes them young. The World would be a better place without him!" I warned the people around me, before a hand gripped my arm from behind and pulled me away from Liam rather roughly.

Seeing Liam, brought back so many horrible memories. I had thought that after all this time, running into him wouldn't affect me the way it did. But I was just as shaken up, if not more, than I was few years back, when I had ran into him at the park on my routine jog as I was preparing for the marathon Stef had signed me up for. A lot of what happened from the moment I crouched down to him to try and stop the bleeding to the moment I helped the doctors lift him off the stretcher – was a blur. I was missing parts of how we got here. It was like I had entered autopilot. My body knew what had to be done to save him, but my brain had shut off.

I only remember bits and pieces.

The way he looked at me.

How he grunted for me to help him as I was his friend.

The way he had grabbed my wrist, when I had crouched down by his side to help him.

The shock, fear and pain that was written all over the traumatized girl, that reminded me of myself at that age.

"What the hell, Callie!" I heard Beth hiss at me as I realized I now stood in the middle of an emergency room and all the nurses and doctors, who were aiding for Liam, had stopped and stared. First at me, then down to him. Beth was almost in face. She was pissed at me, definitely disappointed, I even saw a hint of worry in her eyes.

It wasn't until the doctor with grayish hair called out "People, we have a job to do! We are not here to play God!" that they all resumed to do what they were taught to do – save lives.

Everything around me seemed to be slowed down all of a sudden. All the sounds – indistinct, morphed together. I could not hear what Beth was telling me, but she stood right next to me. My knees felt weak, like they were about to give up on me. It suddenly felt like there was no air, like my throat was closing. I pulled on the collar of my jacket and then with my trembling hands, tried to unzip it as if that would get more air to my lungs.

Feeling a great urgency to leave, I turned, but caught a nurse leading the girl down the hall with her arm wrapped around her shoulder. The girl had Beth's jacket around her shoulders. Beth had given it to the girl to keep her warm and to cover her up for she was earing only her underware.

The young girl was looking back at us. Probably, Beth for she was the one who had aided to her. Maybe me, because I had apparently caused a scene, but could be to Liam – wondering what is his condition.

As the girl and nurse disappeared in a room and closed doors behind them, I turned to the exit and hurried out, leaving Beth to handle the rest. Once I was outside, I finally managed to unzip my jacket. The automatic hospital doors closed behind me. Leaning my head backwards, I closed my eyes and took a few long, deep breath to calm myself down. People walked pass me, going in and out of the hospital, while I just stood still. Calming myself down.

When I heard the sound of streacher being pushed out, I opened my eyes and saw how Beth was pushing it towards the back of the ambulance. Feeling all better, I hurried up to the ambulance and opened the back doors for her. Beth pushed the streacher inside, without giving me a single look and not saying a single word. I closed the doors shut and started to walk towards the drivers seat.

"Should you be driving?" Beth called after me, forcing me to stop and turn back to her

"What?" I frowned my forehead at her question as I could not understand why she was suddenly doubting my driving "Why are you asking me that?"

"You just had a panic attack. I don't think you should be driving-"

"I did not have a-" I tried to argue back, but it was useless

"Don't...don't do that!" Beth interupted me, her finger was pointed at me "Don't pretend you have no idea what I'm talking about," she sounded upset "I have been doing this job long enough to know what a panic attack looks like."

I sucked in my lower lip and tilted my head down, knowing that she was right.

She extended her arm out towards me "Give me the keys. I'll drive us back to the firehouse."

Unwillingly, I gave away the keys and changed my course to the passenger seat doors. Once inside the ambulance, I avoided eye contact with her, focusing my gaze out the side window or down to the floor. The last thing that I wanted, was to see the change in the way she was looking at me. As I had somehow become a fragile doll in the last 5 minutes.

As we had driven out of the hospital territory and onto the street, Beth asked "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I do," I answered, but added in distant voice a moment later "But not with you."

"O-okay," Beth concentrated on the road

"Can we make a quick stop before driving back?"

Stef POV

I was deep into paperwork for the last 30 minutes. My hand was starting to cramp from all of the writing and my eyes were starting to hurt a little from the intense concentration. Once I finished the sentence, I closed the file, put the pen down, leaned back in my chair and took off my glasses. Just as I was about to rub my eyes, I saw Callie walking towards me.

"Hey, you!" I smiled seeing the girl. It was always nice, when someone from the family or extended family visited.

"Hey, Stef!" Callie stopped at Amy's desk, looked around the room, searching for her mom with her eyes "Where's my mom?"

"Um, bathroom," I replied sitting up in the chair getting an uneasy feeling. There was this urgency in her eyes. Seriousness emitted from her. Seeing her partner slowly approaching us with her hands in her jackets front pockets, made this visit even more strange. That's when I realized, she didn't stop by just to say hi. No, Callie was in distress.

Callie was already looking towards the hall that lead to bathroom. Her fingers now tapping nervously at her moms desk. I got up from the chair quickly and neared Callie.

"What happened, love? How can I help?" I cooed softy and quietly while my right hand fingers touched hers

Callie tilted her head down "Old demons," When she raised her head up, I saw the desperation in her eyes before I heard it in her voice "I just...I really need to talk to her, Stef!"

"She'll be back in a minute," I told her before giving her a reassuring hug. I knew it was not my hug and my assuring words she needed, but I hoped it served at least as a substitute, till the other woman came around.

"Mom," I heard the girl gasp and the next moment, Callie was out of my hug and hurrying towards her mom. Once up to her, Callie told her only few words, but Amy's reaction changed drastically. She went from – happy and surprised to her daughter to protective mama bear – faster than anyone could snap a finger. She quickly guided her daughter into the small break room and closed the doors behind, so they would have more privacy.

I turned to Callie's partner, who stood a few steps away staring at the room Callie and Amy had walked in "Does she have lot of them?" she asked without taking her eyes away

"Lot of what?"

"Old demons," Beth stated finally averting her eyes to me

"More than you and me combined," I answered

"How can she deal with...all of it?"

"She doesn't have to battle them alone and Callie knows it," I stated back knowingly

Amy POV

"Honey...honey, listen to me," I cupped Callie's face and waited till her eyes settled on mine "You did good. I'm proud of you."

"Proud? No...no, don't be proud!" Callie pulled out of my hold, pushed my hands away and paced all the way to the other end of the room. With her back turned to me, she admitted shamefully "I wanted him to die. That's the opposite of my job!"

"One bad thought, doesn't make you a bad person, Callie!"

The truth was, that I had wished Liam would die as well. That happened at the time I had learned about what Liam had done to my little girl. Learning the truth, had just ignited something inside me – darker thoughts. Most people, can probably think of a moment like that in their lives, when you want a certain person, who has hurt you or your loved one, to disappear from this world, to pay for the harm they had done. And the way I see it, that's okay, unless those thoughts turn into intention, which can later on lead to plan and motive.

Callie snapped around and was suddenly speaking in louder voice "I hesitated to save him!" she tapped her index finger her chest "We can't hesitate! If we hesitate, if we don't do our job – people can die!"

The sad truth was that people can die even she did her job down to the T.

To me, it was obvious that Callie was having an internal struggle with herself. There were two sides of her - one that wished Liam bad, other kept scolding herself for putting a patients life in danger. Her past and present collided. As did her personal and professional life. I believed the fact alone, that she had wished bad to someone, scared the hell out of her. Maybe even terrified her, that she had become like him at some level.

"Of course you hesitated!" I retorted "You were put in an unimaginable position. There is this huge history between you two, that goes back almost 10 years. But despite what he did to you – you still saved him!" I reasoned back walking towards her slowly "You did what was right! You put your feelings aside and did what had to be done! So, yeah….I'm fucking proud of you for that Callie!"

Callie's shoulders finally lowered, her face relaxed and she let out her breath. She was no longer worked up about it. It was a sign that I had finally gotten through to her.

"You handled your demon much better than I did mine. Need I remind you, that I punched mine and got suspended for two weeks!"

A chuckle escaped from Callie's mouth "You kind of took it out on me as well," Callie added quietly afterwards

"Yeah, I did that as well," I sighed heavily feeling ashamed of how I had acted "I'm not proud of it, but you can be proud of how you handled your demon. Despite your light hesitation at first, you did everything right."

Callie started to slowly nod her head as she thought about it.

"Come on, bring it in!" I smiled, opening my arms. Callie without hesitation took a step forward and wrapped her arms around me. My left rested on the back of her head, while I ran my other hand up and down the girls back.

"Thank you, mom!" she whispered, while we hugged. As a response to her, I kissed her cheek.

"Do you know Officer Forester and Grant?" Callie asked, when she leaned out of the hug

"Um, don't think so. First time I heard of them. Why? Were they the cops on the scene?"

"Mhm," Callie nodded as she began to walk towards the doors "They arrived as we were leaving. Beth gave them our contact info for later, when they or some detectives want to ask us some questions. Any advice on what to tell them, when they come knocking?"

I opened the doors for Callie and answered her as she walked pass me "Just answer their questions honestly and tell them what you saw."

Callie POV

My work day was coming to an end. Only two more hours to go. It had been a long and hard day. After Liam, we had 4 more calls. Each more challenging and harder than before. A snake bite. Heart attack – those always feel like a race against time. A man had cut off his fingers while sawing. The last and what seemed to be the worst because a child was involved – a kid had accidentally poured her mothers boiling tea on himself, resulting in burns to face, arms and chest.

Now sitting in the back of the ambulance, doing inventory, I was hoping no more calls would come in as I was exhausted and drained already. I was humming a song to myself to help with the boring activity, wrapped up in my own little world. In the background I head my co-workers talking, doors opening and closing, footsteps walking up and down, but I paid no attention to it what so ever.

My heart almost jumped out of my chest and I nearly threw the clipboard, when I looked up and saw a middle aged woman, dressed in all black – shoes, pants, coat-, stand by the end of the ambulance.

"Geez Louise!" I exclaimed with my hand over my heart "Don't sneak up to people like that!"

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you!" She apologized, while I set the clipboard down and calmed my racing heart down

"The boys by the firetruck, said I could find you here," the woman said looking pass the ambulance to where the firetrucks were parked "You are Callie Scott Ellis, right? If you are not, then I have scared the wrong person!" She said jokingly

"No, no...you scared the right person. That's me. What can I do for you?" I smirked back and moved closer to the exit of the ambulance. She took a step backwards, when I was about to jump out of the back.

"I'm Detective Bishop from the SDPD," The woman flashed her credentials at me, when I was out of the ambulance "My partner Detective Archer is somewhere around here, talking to your partner. I have some questions for you. Do you have a minute to talk?"

I knew this was going to happen, so it didn't surprise me that a detective wanted to talk to us. A crime had happened. Gut feeling told me that detective Bishop was on the girls side. I was ready to help out anyway I could. My battle with Liam in court already happened and I lost, but I was more than happy to help the girl put Liam behind bars for I had no doubt about it – he hurt the same exact way he had hurt me. I had seen it in the girls eyes, when she had opened the doors for us.

The shock phase of seeing him was long gone. My mom helped me get through it, like she has done many times before. Stef helped as well, without even knowing what had happened and without saying much. Her hug had helped me keep it together till I get to talk to mom about it.

"Sure. What do you want to know?"


	17. Playing God Part III

Callie POV

"That's about it," I shrugged, suggesting there was nothing more to say, after I had told her everything about the point from when we got the call to the moment we got him to the hospital. She had a lot of questions in between and, like my mom had suggested, I answered all of them honestly.

"You want to tell me what happened, after you got him to hospital?" Bishop questioned, but afterwards elaborated "We have multiple eyewitnesses that said you had expressed some very strong feelings about his case, after you handed him off to the medial staff," she turned a few pages back and read out quoting me word by word " _Don't bother saving him. This son of bitch deserved that. He likes them young. The World would be a better place without him."_ Bishop then turned back to the page she had written in before "But then, barely a minute later, you had a small panic attack in the middle of the emergency room."

A brittle smile and breaking eye contact – was my reaction. That way, I gave myself a moment to think about the answer. Looking behind me, I checked to see how far I was from the back of the ambulance. Seeing that it was only a small step behind, I walked to it and took a seat on the back of the ambulance.

At this point, I was not sure if she was aware of my connection to Liam. Bishop hadn't said anything and nothing in her behavior suggested it. It certainly didn't feel like she was treating me in a special way. If it could be avoided, I would rather keep the past in the past and not bring it up anymore than I already had.

"I know what I said at the hospital, was not professional," I admitted while keeping my gaze down to the floor "My partner already made that crystal clear to me. But, uh, if you knew, what I know-" I shook my head not being able to say it

I saw in my peripheral vision that Bishop decreased the distance between us, after I was struggling to find words "I know what he did to you...to the young Callie Jacob," Bishop stated in a gentle manner. It had been a long time since I heard someone referred to me using my old name.

When I made eye contact with the detective, she continued "And I understand, how difficult today was for Callie Scott Ellis."

She knew – I let out a relieved breath, knowing I won't have to struggle with the decision whether to bring it up or not myself. Now that the cards were on table, I felt much better.

I tilted my head back up slowly to look at the detective. Pressing my lips firmly together, I shook my head "Professionally – no, it was not difficult."

Bishop observed me closely, as I had detained a long pause, but remained quiet.

"Personally – it was daunting and burdensome. He begged me to save him; to help him. And I did, I even held his hand. Despite the fact, when I had begged him to stop...to just stop - he ignored me!"

"That says a lot about your characteristic, about what kind of person you are."

"Can you just ask, what you came here to ask.." I wanted this to be over, so I tried to stear the conversation back on its tracks. I did not wish to discuss my feeligns with her.

A short silence fell between us. Bishop flipped a page back and said "You lived with him and his family for over 9 months. What can you tell me about Liam? What was he like? How would you describe him?"

"He was charming. Funny. Friendly. Smooth talker – knew exactly what to tell me, what I wanted to hear. Liam paid me attention, which was something that no one had done in years. Not even his parents paid me that much attention. He exploited my weakness by making me feel...special and loved. Often, he would hide candy bars or other snacks in my school bag, with little notes attached to them, so that I would think of him."

"He lived at the house at that time?"

"Yeah. He was full time student, but he still lived at home. Drove to and back to classes each day. It was rare that he missed breakfast or dinner at the house."

"Did anything...happen between you two before the day he raped you?"

"We had kissed a couple of times. He had convinced me that it would be our little secret. I know it was wrong, it was against the rules, but...when someone handsome, older pays attention to you..." I admitted, now feeling ashamed of my young self

Bishop nodded her head back knowingly, but without any judgment written in her eyes "Worst kind of predator. He was irresistible. Charming, handsome and older. Everything teenage girls dream about."

"Yeah, sort of."

"What can you tell me about the day it happened?"

"His parents went out for the night. We were alone in the house. I was reading a book in living room, Liam came down, told me he wanted to show me something. I didn't think much of anything as I followed him upstairs to his bedroom..." I shook my head at the memory, wanting the images to disappeared from my head

"What about his parents? Did they ever suspect anything?"

"Suspect - no, I don't think so. At least they never talked to me about it. Instead, they blamed me for everything. I was the monster, the uncontrollable, troubled foster kid. Liam is their golden boy. He could never do no wrong in his eyes. So, it was only logical when they blamed me. Said I was sexually volatile, came on to their son. Liam was innocent in all of it."

"Have you had any contact with Liam since then?"

"We ran into each other two times after the trial ended. One time at park, other at parking lot next to a mall. But it was years ago. After I got a restraining order out, I never saw him till today."

"Thank you for your time, Ms. Scott Ellis. You were very helpful." Bishop said closing her notepad and putting it in her coats inner pocket

* * *

I was walking to the car after my shift, when Lena called me. The last time I talked to Lena, was last weekend, when we had gone over for a BBQ. But I could not recall, when we had last spoken on the phone, so I was curious as to what was the reason for this call.

"Did I miss a BBQ you hosted?" I asked, answering the call, while unlocking the car

"No, you did not miss anything. But I hope you have next Thursday marked in your planner. Frankie is so excited and she wants everyone there."

"5 alerts on phone and a big circle is drawn over the date in the calendar. I'm not going to miss Frankie's first play!" I assured her, tossed my bag to the passenger seat and sat inside, closing the doors behind.

"Good. You better not!" Lena warned me playfully

"Or what...mama bear or mama tiger is going to chase me down?" I smirked putting the keys in ignition

"Something like that," I could tell Lena was smiling on the other side

"So...what's up?"

"Stef told me," Lena broke the ice, concern was heard in her voice and I could picture clearly the loving and worried look in her eyes "I just wanted to hear how you were doing."

The light in the car, from when the doors were opened, turned off and I was left sitting alone in the dark car. I leaned back in the seat, as I thought about it myself. After the detective left, I felt much calmer. Thoughts about Liam had stopped, which I connected to the fact that I had simply worked myself up about how I was going to be connected to the case.

Instead of answering her straight away, I sighed loudly and deeply "I was all over the place today. Felt and thought all sort of things. Pardon my French – but it just sucks!"

"What does, exactly?"

"That Liam hurt another girl. It makes me so..." I shook my head not being able to find the right word for it and tried again "I wish I could turn back time and do things differently. Act smarter. Be braver. Anything that could have stopped today from happening."

"Honey, I know you know this – it was not your fault. Not back then and not now. "

"I know, I know," I nodded my head vigorously as I had learned that a long time ago "All those what ifs come to mind, you know," after shifting in my seat, I moved the phone to my other ear "When I was talking to the detective today, I realized something."

"What was it?" Lena inquired

"Even thought I will never forget it, I have forgiven him for hurting me."

"I'm truly happy to hear it, Callie. Forgiveness is the best revenge," Lena said wisely "It's infuriating to the person who had hurt you, seeing you living your life to fullest, being happy, finding love."

"But why can't I forgive him for hurting the girl?"

"Because it's not your to give. It's up to the girl, to forgive him. You can only support her."

I let Lena's words sink in for a moment as I watched the dark street in front of me "Thank you for checking up on me. Means a lot. Knowing I have people, who always got my back, besides my mom."

"Oh, honey," Lena breathed out quietly "I'm always here, if you need me. We all care about you deeply."

"I would love to talk to you more, but I have to get home, otherwise mom will worry about me."

"Drive careful! We love you, Callie!"

"And I love all of you! Tell everyone I said hi!"

* * *

Mom was glad to see me enter the living room. I dropped my bag by the entrance and walked over to the couch, where she was sitting, watching TV.

"Where's Cooper?" I looked around after not seeing or hearing him

"Upstairs. Looking up where he can order some part for his car. He was underneath it till dawn, trying to see what was broken," Mom explained, while I slumped down next to her. After kicking my shoes off, I extended my legs over to moms lap. She placed her hand on my legs and started to gently rub her hands up and down my shins.

Mom turned the TV on mute and asked "How are you doing?"

"Good," I said without much hesitation. Even though the day was hard, it ended on a good note for me, which balanced out the bad. "I stopped at the hospital after my shift."

My statement clearly took mom by surprise, her eyebrow raised a bit and forehead frowned up "Really? Why?"

"I wanted to apologize for what I had said to the nurses and doctors. After all, we go to the hospital almost every day. Hated the idea, that they thought I was trying to play god, by telling them what to do."

"How did that go?" Mom wondered, looking at me carefully

"Most of them had gone home already, except for this one nurse. She heard me out and promised to tell the others that I had stopped by. I felt a lot better after I talked to her."

"That was nice of you."

"I also left a note for the girl and Liam, because the visiting hours were long over," Moms eyes grew a bit bigger at the mention of both of them "The short version, respectively, forgiveness is the best revenge and I forgive him."

"Once again, I'm so proud of you!" Mom made sure to remind me as she patted my hand softly

After writing that short message to Liam, it felt like I finally found closures. I felt a lot stronger, confident and free than I had felt ever before. There was no shadow hanging over me, no ghosts following me and haunting me, no demons lurking at me from the dark. All the people, who are in my life, have helped me achieve this. They showed me the way, when I had no idea, where to go. They shined light, when I was walking in the dark alone. They held my hand and supported me, while I faced my past. Letting all those people in, was the best decission I have ever made.

 ** **AN:** Honestly, I have no idea what to do. This is the 191st chapter in the AU. My goal and my wish was to reach 200. It's so close, I can almost reach it, but at the same time, it feels too far. I want to reach 200 so badly, but I don't know how!  
**

 **The problem is that usually, when I write a chapter, I can imagine the next one in my mind. There is an image, scene, words...something in my mind, but as I wrote this, I don't see anything. I have no idea what I could write as the last 9, I have no idea how to give this AU the end it deservers.**

 **UGH *Banging my head at my desk  
**

 **Because I'm so useless right now, my only options, is to turn to you. Please, PM what you think I should do. Push throught this drought or end it here?  
**


	18. Big step Part I

**AN: Inspiration was there when I woke up this morning. Here's the result of it. Hope you like it :)**

Amy POV

"Well?" I inquired, leaning on the table, while I waited for Cooper to open up the next bottle of wine.

The four of us - Cooper, Stef, Lena and I - were sat on the back porch of the Adams Foster household. It was already dark, the only source of light were the turned on lamps, as I had a feeling it was already getting close to being midnight. Our kids were upstairs, hanging out together. Not sure what they were doing. Last I heard, they were watching a movie together in the living room. But that was over an hour ago, when Lena had gone inside to use the bathroom. We had opened a bottle of wine during the dinner. One bottle was not enough, so a second bottle was had left to go inside once they all had eaten and all the plates and bowls were empty. Stef carried out a new bottle, one that she had been saving for some special occasion, and this was it. The bottles had kept coming as the four of us kept chatting and laughing around the table.

"I don't know," Stef chuckled, seemed like she didn't even thought about what I had asked. Or maybe she honestly had no clue.

Once Cooper had popped the cork out, I instantly moved the glass closer to him, wanting the refill badly.

I was already slightly tipsy, starting to slur my words a little, from all of the alcohol we had consumed. Lena's cheeks were slightly pink, and she started to giggle at the smallest things, her dimples showing up more and more often. Stef had started to dance at one point, when the song _The girls just wanted to have fun_ had come on on the _Spotify_ playlist Cooper had put on. She had effortlessly managed her wife to join her on the dance floor. Might I add, there was no resistance from Lena's part. After watching them dance for a while, Cooper had asked me to dance as well and we swayed to the beat of the song till it's end. Our dancing stopped, when the song had ended and the next one in queue was some rare song that none of us had ever heard before. Afterwards, we had sat back down, popped open another bottle as the conversation kept flowing.

"Come on, she's your daughter! How can you not know?"

"How come you do not know yourself what Callie's up to!" Stef reasoned back as Cooper was pouring the drink into all of the empty wine glasses, starting with mine

"You know-" I turned to Lena, avoiding Stef's question as I had no answer to her "You always know everything that's happening with your kids. You're like the super-mom. Swooshing in and saving their arses, finding lost shoes, getting grass stains out of their favorite shirts, braiding their hair, kissing their ouch-es away!"

"She has seemed a bit off lately," Lena said in more serious tone, reaching for her glass Cooper was handing her "Super-mom? Really? You think so?" Her seriousness broke the next moment, she looked shy from the compliment, dimples showed again

"Oh, you are _ah-mazing_ with kids!" Cooper agreed with me, nodding his head furiously as he handed Stef her glass back

"Excuse you both!" Stef cleared her throat "What about me?" she gestured to herself, up and down "I'm _ah-mazing_ as well. And not just with kids!" She gave a wink to Lena, who giggled like she was a teenager and blushed even more so than she had before

"If Lena's super-mom, you...you're..." Coopers paused as he thought of the right words " ...Wonder-mom!?" He suggested the next moment, wondering if Stef would be okay with that comparison

"That's much better," Stef smirked, pleased, taking a long sip "And...by the way, Wonder-mom kicks super-moms ass everyday?"

"Don't you mean...kiss not kick?" Lena joked, knowing everyone, who could react to it badly to the comment, were inside, far-far away from earshot. As the smirks and giggles dimmed down, I lifted the glass up to my lips and took a long sip

Remembering Lena's words, before we got side tracked, I quickly pulled my lips away from the glass and swallowed the drink "You said off. Off how?"

"Lately, she's been acting a bit...secretive, I guess," Lena explained further moving the glass in circular manner to move the drink, then raising the glass up to her nose to take in the drinks aroma

"Pfffff..." Stef huffed dramatically "That's nothing new. When have those buggers-" Stef pointed to the house, where all of our children were last seen "-ever been open and honest with us from the beginning. They are kids – our kids! They hide stuff. Kids hide stuff from parents...all the time. They think they know everything, they think they can handle everything themselves. They want to act all grown up be all independent..."

"Stef's right," Lena placed her free hand over Stef's right, agreeing with her wife "That's what kids do."

"Maybe they are right," Cooper said " Maybe you are getting worried over nothing."

"So you two are not worried...not one bit about what Mariana and Callie are planning on doing? All the whispers, all the late night chats, texting, all the time they seem to spend together during the weekend the whole last month...doing god knows what?"

"They are probably planning another Long Island cocktail night out," Stef shrug before taking another sip, Lena nodded her head agreeing with her wife. I did not fully buy that. It seemed more than just a night out. If the girls were planning a night out, Callie would just tell me. She would change the topic every time I mention it.

"If that's the case – it's your time to be on the call!" I leaned back in the chair and raised the glass up to my lips

* * *

"Morning!" Callie greeted me cheerfully, when I had finally made my way down to the kitchen the next morning. She was sitting at the kitchen table, with a cup of coffee in front of her and a newspaper in her hand. An empty bowl, cereal box and a pack of milk sat in the middle of the table.

Once she saw me enter, she lowered the newspaper down. Duke was laying next to Callie. He raised his head up and moved his tail back and forth, excited to see me

"Not so loud, please!" I muttered back weakly as I shuffled slowly towards the kitchen table with one of my hand up to my head "My head hurts."

When I had sat down, Duke got up and moved to my side. Setting his head into my lap. I patted him, but he still remained by my side. Usually, in the mornings, I'm the first downstairs. He gets to greet me first, we go out for a little walk, just around the block, before we come back home and I give him a bone to chew on, while I start making breakfast for Cooper and Callie. We have a routine and seeing me come down so late, probably confused him.

"Did you give him his bone this morning?" I asked, looking down at our family pet, petting him

"Yeah he already ate it," Callie said and reached for something that stood on the counter behind her

"Aspirin, for the headache. Water for the dry mouth," Callie pushed a white pill and a glass of water towards me. She had prepared for this. When I glanced to the counter, I saw another glass of water already ready with an aspirin pill next to it for Cooper.

I took the pill and drank half of the water on top "What time is it?"

"Almost 10," Callie replied casually as she started to make me a cup of coffee. I lifted the glass up to my lips and drank the remaining water as I still had felt thirsty and my mouth was dry.

"What would you like to eat, mom?" she asked me walking over to the fridge after a new pot for coffee had been put on

"Do we have yogurt?" I asked finally setting the now empty glass on the table in front of me

"One left," Callie grabbed it, closed the fridge, took a small spoon from the drawer and walked back to the table "Here you go."

"Thanks, love." I said opening it up and digging in "How much did we drink last night?"

Callie took her phone and a moment later she showed me a picture Jude had sent her this morning of the mess we had left last night or this morning. I counted 6 empty wine bottles on the ground next to the patio table. But there must have been more. At least it felt like there was more. My head was complaining.

"Oh, god! No wonder my head hurts," I sighed at the photo "I'm so sorry, honey!" I added, when I looked up to my daughter

"For what?" Callie gave a small laugh back putting her phone down on the table "For finally having some fun? Don't be...you have nothing to apologize for."

"No, I do. I do. Cooper and I got so...drunk. I never wanted for you to see me like this. Hangover. I hate that you needed to care of me-"

"Mom!" Callie placed her hand over mine stopping me for rambling further "No harm, no foul. Seriously, don't apologize."

I watched Callie closely for a moment "I still feel bad, honey, for putting you in that sort of position. "

"Mom," Callie said a bit louder as she patted my hand "It's all good!. You haven't done anything wrong in my eyes. There is nothing to apologize about. You don't have to feel bad about anything." I squinted my eyes as I observed my daughter, as I took in her tone, her features.

"Really?" I asked still not fully believing it

"Yes!"

"Okay," I nodded back after taking a deeper breath in and letting it go "I love you, you know that?"

"I love you, too, mom!" Callie smiled at me, before she got up again this time, to get me my coffee she had put on a moment ago. She handed me the first page of the newspaper, she had already read and we continued on with our breakfast.

Duke was now loyally laying beside me, while I drank my coffee, ate my yogurt and read the paper. Even thought this morning was a peaceful and calm, no one was rushing anywhere, I still felt restless. Something kept bugging me. And it was the same thing I had brought up last night that Callie and Mariana were up to something. The not knowing was killing me. I was itching to talk to her about it. As a mother, I simply could not let it go. And I don't think I was capable of waiting for her to come to me about it.

"Honey?" I folded the newspaper and set it down

"Yeah?" She asked without raising her eyes form the article she was reading

"What's going on?" I asked bluntly, not wanting to waste any more time and just needing to get to the core of the problem

My question made her look up, her forehead frowned up, eyes puzzled "What do you mean? With who?"

"With you," I stated back, locking eyes with her

"Um," Callie looked confused for a moment "Nothing. Why are you asking me that?"

"Because you are acting strange these last few weeks. I can feel that you aren't telling me something Cal."

Callie sighed, then put her newspaper down, sensing that I was not going to let it slide this time and she set her eyes on mine.

There was something heavy on her heart and I could tell, she was afraid to tell me. Maybe scared of my reaction. Whatever it was, we could deal with it together. Like we always have.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me honey," I pressed on softly "I just...I want to help, with whatever it is, that's bugging you so much. Please, talk to me. Don't lock me out."

Callie sat, in silence, watching me closely from the other side of the table. I saw the struggle in her features. Her lips had parted few times, but something had stopped her from saying whatever was on her mind. She looked out of the window for a while. Even rubbed the bridge of her nose two times. Glanced back to me, slightly scared and anxious. She ran her tongue over her lips and broke the eye contact again, looking down this time.

With her head down, looking down at her lap, she whispered quietly "I'm thinking about moving out."

Duke sat up, his ears perked up and he gave out a small whimper as he joined me staring at Callie in shock at her revelation, which had left me speechless for the moment.


	19. Big step Part II

Callie POV

"You want to move out?" mom stuttered back after a long pause

"I'm thinking about," I confirmed with a slight head nod as I watched mom closely, worried how she was going to take it

She ran her hand over her forehead, pushed her chair back and got up suddenly, turning her back to me. I assume she did that, because mom didn't want me to see the tears that had appeared in her eyes. Seeing mom like that, tugged at my heartstrings. I had seen mom stunned before. But never like this. She was taking my news harder than I ever thought she would. Mom was hurting, because of me. And that realization nearly made me cry.

"It's a big step, I know, but I feel like I'm ready, mom!" I said feeling that I needed to explain myself, while standing up, that I wasn't doing this to get away from her or hurt her, but only to start a new chapter in my life "I'm 21, I have an education, I have a good job, steady income..."

"I know, I know, I know," Mom quietly chanted to herself as she tried to compose herself with her back still turned to me

Walking up to her, I hugged her from her back, set my chin to her left shoulder "Mom? Now it's your time to talk to me. Don't lock me out," Amy placed her hand over mine, that were wrapped around her

Mom shook her head softly as she wiped her eyes with her free hand and turned around. There were tears still lingering in her eyes but I saw that she was determinant to not let them fall. She placed her palms on both side of my neck, her thumbs resting on my cheek as she looked into mine and admitted softly "It's just...I thought I would have more time with you."

Mom tucked a strain of hair behind my ear and started to stroke my hair fondly"It's seems like only yesterday you moved in and now...now you want to move out. It's going to be strange not having you here, not seeing you every day...I kind of feel like I'm loosing you," she sucked in a sharp breath as tear from her left eye fell down

"Mom! I would never-I'm not leaving you!" I exclaimed, shocked that she would ever think that "If you think, even just for a second, that I'm not going to come by to see you, talk to you or need you, when I move out - you are crazy!"

Mom pulled her hands back and took a step back as she started to elaborate "In my head, I completely understand you wanting to start your own life. I wanted the same thing, when I was around your age. It's my heart, that's having trouble accepting it right now, because for a very long time, you were the only one, who made this place not feel so empty and quiet…" mom trailed off as she looked around the room

For a moment, we stood watching one another, tears in both of our eyes, but neither let them fall as we tried to stay strong for each other

"Honey," mom then smiled at me "I'm okay with it-"

"Are you?" I questioned back, no longer convinced that me moving out was a good idea "Because it doesn't seem like you are."

Her mouth parted a little, but she stopped herself from saying what was on the tip of her tongue "I'm going to be," Mom corrected herself. Now that, I believed. "My heart may need a bit more time to accept it, but...once it catches up with my head, you won't have to worry about your old mother, anymore."

"You're not old," I said walking up to mom, wrapping my arms around her and leaning into her "And I will always worry about you, just like you, always, worry about me. I love you, mom."

"And I love you, pumpkin!" Mom squeezed me a fraction tighter

Once moms strong, yet gentle arms held me, I let my muscles became loose as I melted into moms warm embrace. Time always seemed to stop and all the worries seemed to disappear, when mom was cradling me like a cherished child.

* * *

The car was parked on the side of the road, in front of the 5 floor apartment building. Jude and I were leaned at the passenger side of the car, while we waited. Both of our phones were out. We were both scrolling through the countless ads about apartments to rent. Mariana was studying for a big test, so I had invited my brother to join me on the apartment hunt.

When I felt his eyes on me, I stopped browsing and glanced to my brother.

"I still can't believe you want to move out. Leave home. Live alone," He said once my eyes landed on his

"It's not like I'm planning moving to another state or to another country," I said lightly with a small chuckle, because I didn't want anyone to make a too big deal out of it

"I know, but..." Jude glanced down to the pavement

"But, what?" I coaxed trying to get him to say whatever was on his mind that was bugging him so much

"Can you promise me, something?" Jude asked, looking back at me. My eyebrow raised a little at his question.

"Promise me, that we won't drift apart. You want to start your own life and all that, I get that, but can you just promise me that you won't forget about me. About us? I don't want to wake up one morning and realize that I can't recall the last time we talked to each other or saw one another. I don't want to lose you again, Callie!"

"Hey!" I put my arm around his shoulder and pulled him closer to my side "I'm never going to allow for that to happen. It took me years to find you. I'm not letting you out of my life ever again," I assured him before I placed a kiss to his temple "I will always make time for family, no matter how hectic or busy my life will become."

"Promise me," Jude said quietly

"I promise."

We remained in the close proximity for a moment longer, until Jude wiggled his way out from under my arm and spoke up "I found an ad, of this one place. It was super cheep. Hold on a second, I will show you," He said unlocking his phone and reloading the web page

"How much?" I asked and out of curiously leaned towards him to see the price

"Only 500 a month!"

"That can't be," I could not believe the price as I hadn't found any reasonable place cheaper than 1300$ a month "Where?" I asked, thinking to myself that the apartment had to be in the worst neighborhood in the city or it had to be in the most horrible condition ever to be that cheep

I watched how Jude scrolled down the screen and looked at the map at the bottom of the page "Not far from here - Hyatt street."

The address was some 20 minute drive away from home and work, so I snatched my brothers phone out of his hand and looked at the ad. My eyes scanned over the data, looking for a reason the owner was renting the place out so cheep. And of course, I found one.

"Nop!" I placed the phone back in his hand, once I saw what was wrong with it

"What? What didn't you like about this one?" Jude looked down at the ad

"150 square feet! (14 m2)," I placed the phone back in his hand "There would barely be any room for me to turn around. I couldn't even invite mom over, because there would be no space. And I'm not even going to talk about game nights with all of you."

Jude chuckled awkwardly "Guess I should have set a filter to the apartment size."

"Yeah, you should have," I smirked, averting my attention back to my phone

"So, what's the minimum square feet you are looking at?" Jude peaked to my phone

"At least 269 square feet (25 m2). That's the minimum. Best case scenario - I would like to have 376 square feet (35 m2), then I would be able to invite everyone over and maybe, just maybe you all would have a place to sit. It also wouldn't feel like the four walls are closing in on me," I answered

But the apartment size was not the only thing to take into consideration. Cost – was I able to afford it. Rent plus the electricity/water/heat/recycle/maintenance etc bills. There was also the location of the place, how far from work and home. Does the place has a parking lot. Is there a mall, hospital, pharmacy, parks etc near by. What's the neighborhood like. And of course neighbors themselves. Can anyone from the street wander in the apartment building or are the outdoors with a code or card to only let the tenants in. In what condition is the apartment – does it need cosmetic repairs, how much furniture I will need to buy. Does the owner has any unpaid bills I should know about. There was a lot to think about and it was not as easy as I had at first thought.

Jude nodded, putting the numbers in the filter. I was busy staring down at my phone, when Jude announced, leaning off the car and putting his phone in his pants pocket "Our moms are here!"

Looking to my right, I saw Stef's black SUV pull up behind me with Stef, herself, sitting behind the wheel, but my mom was in the passenger seat. Even thought it was Sunday, they were both called in to work, because of the protest that was going to happen today by the City Hall. Police needed a lot of man power to control the crowd as thousands of people were planning on protesting. Now that the protest had ended, we could pick back up on our plan to go apartment hunting.

"Lucky number 9," Mom called as she stepped out of the car. She placed her hands on her hips and looked at the tall building in front of her taking in the sight

"We heard a couple complaining about some noisy neighbors as they walked out of the building," Jude informed my mom, while Stef walked around the car

Moms face dropped a little at those news, but she tried to keep positive "You don't know for sure, that those neighbors they talked about, are going to be on the same floor as the apartment that we're about to check out."

"Probably upstairs neighbors," Stef joked as she stepped up to the pavement

"Hey, don't jinx it!" I called back

"I'm so glad my days of living in an apartment building are long gone!" Stef commented as the four of us moved towards the entrance

"Amen to that!" Mom agreed as she smiled to her partner and dear friend

* * *

"So, why did the previous renter move out?" I heard mom ask the landlord as I was standing in the kitchen area, looking up to the ceiling.

It seemed that the upstairs neighbors had often flooded their place, because the ceiling looked bad. Covered in yellowish stains from where the water between floors had gathered. Right on top of me, it looked like the ceiling had been repaired, maybe because it had caved in a while ago. The repairs looked fresh. Stef had disappeared into the small bathroom, probably looking at the old pipes. Jude was looking at the window, that had bars on the outside. He had tried to open the window, but because of the bars, it barely opened.

"Oh, they were robbed. Couple of times actually," the landlord replied indifferently, causing all of us to look at him, Stef suddenly appeared out of the bedroom.

The landlord was a man in his mid 40's. Average height, but a thin looking guy. Bald head, one day stumble. Black framed glasses. He was wearing a checked, button up shirt and black jeans. By the look of his face, it felt as if he has seen it all and could not be affected by anything. Dealing and fixing up other people problems at this apartment building seemed to have drained all of his life, energy and happiness out of him. He had probably seen hundredth of people come and go.

"That's why there are the bars on the windows," The landlord pointed to the window that Jude was standing by "Not that the bars stopped the robbers on the 1C apartment. They took everything...even grabbed the old ladies cat."

"This apartment was robbed couple of times?" Mom moved her eyebrow up at the detail the man had given

"They got through the bars?" Stef blurt out as she shared a worried look with my mom

"Did you say they stole a cat?" Jude's mouth parted in surprise, he briefly glanced to me to see if I was as shocked by the news as he was, before returning his back to the man. To be honest, I was the most curious about the cat as well.

"It was a Sphinx cat," The landlord explained, slowly nodding his head, while looking at my brother "They probably sold it and got a good 1000$ for it. Maybe more, the lady in 1C took him to cat shows and all that crap. He had won couple of awards."

"If you ask me, it's an ugly cat breed," the man adjusted the glasses on his nose and continued despite the fact that neither one of us asked him to elaborate about it "Looked like a fucking rat. Almost kicked it once, when I was at the 1C apartment fixing a leaking pipe. The bastard sneaked up on me..."

"Okay..." I dragged slowly as I looked to my mom, with my eyes telling her that we should leave.

"Thank you for showing around, but we will be going now!" Mom shook his hand as the rest of us used that moment to get out quickly

"So much for this place," I said once we were out on the street by our cars

"So," mom clapped her hands "What's our next stop?"

"Let me check," I said taking my phone out and checking my email, where I had contacted couple of more people about their apartments "Clay avenue 35." I saw Stef putting the address in her phone to look it up on the map

"Alright, lets hit the road, then," Mom smiled and we all moved to our cars

"Can we stop for ice cream on the way?" Jude asked as he opened the doors to the passenger side

"Sure," I smiled back and heard Amy asking the same thing to Stef as she sat in the black SUV. Smirking to myself, I buckled up, Jude turned on the radio and we hit the road.


	20. Big step Part III

Callie POV

I pushed the doors hard, putting all my frustration and anger out on them. The doors banged at the wall, as I walked out of the building.

This was getting ridiculous. I was starting to become beyond frustrated. When I had started the hunt for an apartment, I was excited and hopeful. Eager to see all of the opportunities. After multiple weeks of searching, I was starting to lose my patience. Today, I reached the last straw.

I was no longer looking for the perfect place. No, I stopped looking for perfect weeks ago. Now, I simply wanted to find a place. An apartment that I would not hate to return to after work. A place, that I wouldn't need to install second and third lock on the door or bars on the window. A room, where I wouldn't hear the upstairs or next door neighbors every step or argument.

I knew there was a reason this place was so cheep. And it was a good one. It had been a scene of a crime few days ago. I wish the landlord had speared me the details of the crime as I now knew that a mother, under the influence of drugs, had killed her underage kid, and then, after injecting another dose of drugs in her veins, overdosed and died. The apartment had, of course, been cleaned out, but still, after learning the truth, the ghosts of the place hung heavy in the air.

I was not ready to live in a place, that had such a dark past. It was too recent. Too horrifying.

I ran down the steps to the sidewalk, paced a few steps forward, before I spun around throwing my arms up "I'm done!"

"I'm so done with all of it!" I screamed it out, receiving few glances my way from the other other people on the sidewalk.

"Callie," hearing and seeing Coopers calm voice and demeanor, only upset me more. Of course he wouldn't understand.

"No, no!" I pushed away his hand that he had placed gently on my shoulder, trying to calm me down "I have lost count on how many apartments I have checked out! They all look so great on the paper...but not a single one...not one, was actually acceptable. I feel like I am cursed or something."

I paced back to the car "Is it me?" I pressed my fingers to my chest "Are my standards too high? Am I asking too much?" I asked him as Cooper slowly approached me "Should I actually be considering this place? It was a nice place, you know, despite the murder and death part,"

I put my head in my hands "This was the last place on my – to visit – places. There are no other options. I feel like I have seen all the vacant apartments in this city. All the landlords know me already. I am out of options."

"Callie, take a breath, please..." Cooper said placing his hands on my shoulders and forcing me to snap out of my rant. I stopped myself and looked up to Cooper's concerned eyes.

"Please, just breath for a moment!" At his request, I realized, that I indeed had been ranting away with barley breathing. I sucked in a deep breath and exhaled. Cooper smiled down at me.

"I'm losing my mind over this, Cooper. What am I going to do?" slowly I ran my hands over my face and through my hair

"Come on. We have one more place on the list," He said taking a step away from and walking around the car to the driver side

"No, this was the last one I had called," I replied, letting my hands fall down to my side as in defeat. I knew my list. There were 5 places I wanted to see today. This was the fifth. This was the last on my list.

Cooper just smirked at me, from the other side of the car and opened the door "Get in."

We drove for some 10 minutes. During the ride I had tried to get an answer out of Cooper as to where were we going, but Cooper had remained secretive and didn't give me any details as to where are we going.

Cooper parked the car by a multiple story red brick apartment building. The building itself, while it didn't look new, was very well maintained.

I followed Cooper into the building. There was a door code. Cooper punched in a number and the doors buzzed open. We moved through the hallway, pass the mailboxes, to the staircase. There was an elevator as well, which looked in a working condition but we took the stairs. We walked up to the third floor. All the staircases and hallways we passed were clean.

"Where are we going?" I finally broke the silence and asked my step-father as I followed him down the hallway

"Just a moment," he replied, without looking back at me.

He stopped, reached into his pocket and took out a key. He turned to the red doors, put the key in and turned two times. Once the doors unlocked, he pushed them open and gestured me to walk inside.

"Go on, Callie. Check it out. See how you like it."

"What is this?" I said baffled, looking between him and the hallway into the apartment "Whose place is this?"

"It's yours if you want to." His simple statement took my by surprise. My head snapped to him and I stared at him in silence. What he said, didn't make any sense at all.

"What?" the words barely rolled over my lips as I tried to understand what was happening, what Cooper was trying to tell me

"I said, it's yours-"

"I heard what you said," I interrupted him "I meant..."

"This is my apartment," Cooper said walking inside the apartment, leaving me standing in the hallway by the open doors alone. It took me a while, till I lost sight of Cooper, who had turned into a room and disappeared from my sight, to follow him inside the apartment, closing the doors behind me.

The apartment was dusty. It most definitely hadn't been cleaned in a long time. All of the furniture that I saw, was covered in white sheets. Obviously, no one had lived here for a while.

"Before I moved in with you guys, this was were I lived," I heard Cooper say from the other room.

When I reached the entrance of the room, he was in, I found him standing with his hands in his pant pockets looking at the wall with the window, that out looked the city.

Cooper glanced to me when he heard me enter "I decided not to sell it at first, because you can never really know how things can work out, you know. Of course I hoped that everything turns out great. And it did. These last years have been amazing. I have never been happier than living with you and your mom. I like to be part of the family."

Cooper walked up to the side wall and ran his hand over the wallpaper "I put the wallpaper on myself," he reminiscence. I could see in the eyes, that he was remembering the time. Cooper looked down and tapped his foot "Floorboards as well. Dark oak. Expensive, but...good. It took me days, but I did it all by myself."

"Cooper-"

My step-father turned to me again "Your mom and I discussed it. I was actually planning on finally selling this place, but...then you expressed your wish to move out. So, we decided to wait and see how the apartment hunt goes for you. If you had found a place yourself, I would be selling this place and help you buy your new one. But..."

"Yeah," I cached on his drift and looked down to my feet as well, admitting my defeat" That hasn't gone great so far."

"Yeah, so, here we are," Cooper gestured to the place "It's yours if you want to."

"I don't know what to say," I replied, walking deeper inside the room and taking a better look at it.

"Say yes."

"I don't think I can," I stopped in my tracks and looked at him "This is too much...if I say yes, how could I ever repay you?"

"You won't have to repay me, ever. It is my gift, to you!"

"A very expensive one."

"Callie, this was my home for over 10 years. I would like nothing more for this place to stay in family. You and Amy...you are my family. I know..." he pointed between himself and me "What we have...the relationship, it's not even remotely close to what you have with your mom. And it never will. I will always be the guy, who came into your life unannounced, unwelcome and married your mom. I'm the step-father, you never wanted in your life, that you never asked for...never needed."

I shook my head as tears whelmed up in my eyes. While some of what he said was true, there were parts that he was wrong about, as well.

"But to me..." I believe this was the first time I saw tears in his eyes " To me…" he shook his head and for a moment glanced sideways, away from me " I love you as if you were my own. I don't need a stupid Judge or some papers to tell me that," he placed his hand over his heart "You are my daughter and I love you."

I sucked in my lover lip as it had started to trembled slightly.

"And this, is what a father does. I want you to have this apartment. I want to sign it over to you."

"Okay," I whispered out just as the tears touched my cheeks

In relief, Cooper blossomed out in a smile "Okay."

I walked up to him, wrapped my arms around his torso and pressed my head to his chest. Cooper kissed the top of my head, before hugging me back.

"For what it is worth, I think of you as my father...and I love you as well."


	21. Friends and family Part XI

Callie POV

There was an incredible heat outside. Apparently, today was the first day of weeks long heat. Nothing unusual for California, but still. Despite the heat, I was standing in front of the grill, in the Sun, with a cold beer in my hand. Next to me, Jude was flipping the meat in the grill.

It was another one of those BBQ we throw for ourselves. Last BBQ we had was held at the Adams Foster household, so it was time to be held at the Scott Ellis household. Even now, after years, we still all look forward to the family gathering. You could say, it was our tradition. A reason to get together. To see each other.

"How is the new apartment?" Jude asked me as he flipped the last piece of meat to the other side

"It's really weird," I replied shortly and took a sip of my beer, before I go into a longer answer "Like, I love that I finally have my own place. Love the peace and quiet, and the fact that I'm now this independent woman. But at the same time, I miss seeing mom and Cooper, and Duke every morning. Having to eat breakfast and dinner alone at time feels a bit lonely. And not having anyone to talk to, when I come home..." I shrugged thinking about how much I had wanted to tell mom about my day yesterday after a really hard and exhausting work day. Instead I had just settled for a good book after I had ordered myself a pizza.

"Sounds like you are still adjusting," Jude replied while adjusting his hat. I nodded in agreement.

It had only been three weeks since I had fully moved out of the house and into the apartment. It was bound to take some time till I adjusted completely to the change. After all, I had went from living with a family, to being separated from my family after mom's death and being alone for almost 5 years, to finding a new family, reconnecting to my brother and becoming a part of even bigger family. I'm still part of that huge family and will be forever, but feels strange being alone.

All I can say, this phase of becoming an actual adult we call being young adult is really confusing and strange. I find comfort in the fact that I'm not the first one and won' t be the last one to find this part of my life so baffling. I often find myself thinking I need to talk to an adult, but then realize that I'm technically an adult and I should know the answer to my own question.

"Just wait...you will soon be in my shoes," I grinned at my brother as I nudged him with my elbow playfully

Jude laughed back and returned his attention back to the meat "Great, can't wait! Watching you maneuver on with your life is not giving me any comfort...not a single ounce. You are horrible at being adult."

"Hey, now...I'm not so bad!" I laughed back "I could do worse, you know. I could be stealing toilet paper from my mom, but at least I buy my own stuff."

We stood by the grill, watching the meat in silence for a couple of moments, before Jude spoke up again "Are you going to the Fair next weekend?"

"Yes, but-" I couldn't finish as Jude cut me off excited

"Great, we can all go together. Frankie has been crazy about us all going together. Brandon's going to fly in as well, so we will all be able to go like we did years ago."

"Actually..." I said slowly, afraid of how he will take the news

Jude's shoulders dropped a little as he saw how tentative I had become "You have to work?" He asked knowingly, after watching me

I nodded back "We were asked to be one of the paramedics during the whole event. You know, to be there just in will be a lot of people. At events like that, there are always someone who needs medical attention. Besides, of the heat...lot of people forget to drink enough water, or forget to wear a hat and get heatstroke."

Jude placed his hand on my arm as though consoling me "You don't have to explain. I understand all that, Cal," my brother smiled back at me "I'm just sad you won't be able to go with all of us."

"We might cross paths," I reasoned back "Besides, you can all come and have a quick chat with me." And knowing the Adams Fosters, the certainly will.

* * *

The weather reports were true about the weekend, when the Fair was taking place. It was a very hot, dry and sunny day without a single cloud up in the clear blue sky. The temperature reached a 32 C (89.6 F). Even as Beth and I were standing in the shadow, I could feel a drop of sweat rolling down my temple. We had already aided for countless of people who were feeling week after spending too much time in the hot Sun. One older woman had been suffering heatstroke. Another ambulance on the scene took her to hospital. We had handed out all of the cold water we had taken with us and there was already a new batch of cold water coming in. Multiple people had forgotten sunscreen. There were also some small minor injuries, a kid had fallen down and hurt his wrist. Few others had eaten too much and had vomited or felt sick/nauseated. But other than that, things were calm.

"Nice heat," I said before I took a sip of the water I had with me. I offered Beth the water, she took it and drank a little before handing the bottle back to me.

"These people are crazy," Beth said watching the people who were attending the fair "If I had not been working, I would be sitting in my apartment next to a fan with a cold beer in my hand, not be here...outside in this heat!"

"If I hadn't been working, I would be here," I said feeling a wave of sadness wash over me as I thought about how much fun they were all probably having together, because I was missing, missing being with them.

Beth gave me a glance, but said nothing.

"My whole family is out there...somewhere. I would be with them...suffering in the heat, yet enjoying the family time," I continued after a moment as I looked around the crown

"It's probably just a matter of time before we see them or they come find you," Beth patted me on my back

"Day's still young," I agreed, opening the water bottle again and emptying the much needed drink

"Awww," Beth sighed "You miss them."

I slowly turned to my partner, screwed up my face and unconvincingly reasoned back "No," Even I didn't believe what I was saying, so there was no chance that Beth did as well "Fine...a little bit!" I admitted at the end

Beth cupped my face, smushing it slightly, grabbing my attention "You so do, you big softie!"

Before I could respond, I felt someone jumping on my back "Callieeeeee!" I heard the familiar Frankie's voice. The next thing I know, I was swarmed by the whole extended family, being in the middle of a huge hug. And even thought, I had heard dogs barking in the distance, I recognized Duke barking instantly, thought I did not see him anywhere.

There was Mariana on my right side, Jude on my left. Pretty sure Jesus was behind me, behind Frankie, who was on my piggy back. In front of me, I saw Brandon, who I hadn't seen in months. He looked grown up, yet the same. Hair was longer, though. And besides Brandon, with her hand on B's and Mariana's shoulder stood Lena, grinning at me. I saw Cooper walking up with Duke in a leash.

"When did you guys get here?" I asked, when the big hug started to disperse and Frankie jumped down from my back

"Some 4 hours ago," Lena told me

"Have you seen Amy and Stef?" I asked them as I adjusted the radio that was over my shoulder

"Not yet," Cooper said, as Duke was pulling him closer to me. Duke's tail was wiggling left and right hitting everyone around him.

Stef and Amy were working today as well. Not only they were here in case they needed to maintain order, but police offers were also handing out cold water and helping whoever needed it. In such a large and popular event as this, first responders were always on sight. Helping whoever needed any help. Especially in a hot day like this.

"Where are you going first?" Beth asked them all

"The go carts!" Frankie beamed at my partner

"Sounds fun," I replied ruffling her hair playfully

We chatted for few more minutes about nothing in particular. I reminded them to keep hydrated and try to get out of direct sun every now and then for a 5 minutes, before they all went to enjoy the day.

"Wanna go grab an ice cream?" Beth suggested nodding to the ice cream stand that stood between a fresh juice stand and craftsman stand. It goes without saying that there was a queue for the ice cream.

"If you hadn't suggested it, I would have," I agreed and we made our way towards the ice cream stand.

Halfway towards it, I saw mom and Stef standing at the other side of the field. They stood under a large tree, in the shadow, handing out cold water to the people, who were passing by.

"Hey," I tapped Beth on the arm, who was now standing in the line to get ice cream "I'll go and say hi to my mom," I pointed to their direction.

Beth leaned backwards, trying to see to where I was pointing so that she knows where to look for me. Once she saw them, Beth nodded back and showed me a thumbs up "Vanilla for you?"

"Yeah. Thanks!" I smiled at my partner before walking towards my mom

Amy POV

"What was I thinking..." I whined after I had handed the cold water to an elderly couple

Stef gave me a look, not understanding what I was referring to, before handing out yet another bottle of water to a by-passers "Keep hydrated!" she told the woman and the child. The woman thanked her, took the water and continued on.

"What were you thinking about when?" She screwed up her face as she pressed one of the cold water bottle to the side of her neck

"Moving from Boston to San-fucking-Diego! How are people willingly living here? The heat, he constant drought, the dryness, the Sun...it's like living in Hell! What the Hell was I thinking?"

"I think you were in love with Aaron that time around," Stef smirked at me "People do crazy stuff in the name of love."

Stef was of course right. I moved here with Aaron. He had a job offer he could not say no to. Markus used to love the heat, same as Aaron. It was like they were both born for the heat. Born to live in California. They certainly could withstand it better than I. Callie seemed to be fine in this heat as well. She definitely complained less than me. For me, Boston's weather was much more acceptable. During hot streak like this, I often found myself questioning my choice of moving here. The nights during the heat were the worst. I can barely get few hours of sleep.

One thing was clear - if it wasn't for my family, then and now, I would have stayed in Boston. I hate the heat. This was too hot for me.

"Stupid love. Blah!"

If the weather reports were true, this heat will remain for the next month. And drought is already upon us. The grass is no longer green, it has burned out. Flowers have welted, nothing grows. The animals are suffering as well. Not to mention fires starting in the woods. Rivers will soon be dry.

"People who live in California are crazy! Same thing goes for Arizona, Texas and Florida!" I continued, gesturing to the people around us "Look at all the crazy, stupid people Stef!"

"Hey, look!" Stef exclaimed pointing across the field "There comes your favorite crazy, stupid person!"

As I looked towards were Stef was pointing, I saw Callie coming towards us. She was still some good 100 meters away from us. A smile crossed my face instantly and my grumpy mood about the heat disappeared. I raised my arm up and held it there, waving at her. Even from the distance, I saw her smile back and wave back at me. It warmed my heart and lightened up my day.

But the next second...

She hadn't even lowered her arm down, when out of nowhere, her body, along with all of the other people around her, was roughly thrown away from an explosion happening by her right side.

I had automatically, covered my face and turned away from the blast, to protect myself. I felt the aftershock wave hit me. And when I stood up straight, chaos and panic ensued. My ears were still ringing from the loud noise. Dust from the explosion was coming down. Something was burning. Smoke was raising in the air. There was a nasty smell. Burt flesh. People, who hadn't been thrown by the blast, were screaming and running away. Afraid that another explosion might take place.

Seconds passed. Confusion, fear and worry grew. I was standing still in my spot, unable to move, looking at the chaos in front of me.

My heart, almost stopped, when my brain realized that I had just watched my daughter being thrown at least 5 meters (16 feet) from the blast and that I could no longer see her. She was lying there, on the ground, with the rest of the people caught in the explosion. And there was only one thought on my mind - I had to find her.

"Callie!" I screamed running to look for her, not caring about anything else. I felt Stef's hand on my arm briefly before, but I got away from her. I don't care about any other person. I don't care that another explosion might take place. I was no longer a cop.

In this moment, I was a mother. And as a mother, I could not lose another child.


	22. Friends and family Part XII

Jude POV

We had heard the explosion, but had not seen it. It had happened somewhere on the other side of the Fair. As far as the distance between us and the explosion goes, we were safe.

But hearing and seeing the panic and screaming spared afterwards, like shock wave, scared us just as much as if we had been there to see it.

Until today, we had only seen these things on the TV, heard about it on the radio, talked about it the following day with friends and family, expressing our fears and worries, grateful that it had not happened here with us, yet sad that it happened at all and that people were hurt.

School shootings were now a regular thing in USA. We heard about them all the time.

Sames goes for other kind of attacks. Like trucks driving into crowds. I still remember when the news of that happening in Stockholm were broadcast. Or the terrorist attack during the Christmas time in Berlin.

Bombs exploding during marathon events. Subway explosion in Manhattan. Or the bomb on London bus.

The shooting in France – Charlie Hebdo. Shooting at the concert in LA.

It feels as if we hear about events like that each day, happening all around the World. Some close to home, other not so much.

And today...today we witnessed it.

Lena grabbed Frankie by her hand and I'm certain she won't let go for hours. Mariana clung close to her twins arm. Brandon pulled me to his side. Cooper crouched down to Duke, who had whimpered from the loud explosion. We all stood still, watching the chaos spread all around us. Should we run, should we stay still? Will there be another explosion? Will we be caught in it? Were mom and Amy safe? Was my sister and her partner safe? Were people killed? Are people dying at this exact moment as we stand and watch? What do we do, where do we go now? Suddenly, no place felt safe. I guess, that's always the terrorist plan. To make people afraid.

"We stay together!" Lena yelled out. Everyone agreed, nodding heads.

"We should go to the beach! To water!" Cooper said standing up and looking over his right shoulder "It will be safer in the shore."

At first, I was taken aback by the strange suggestion from Cooper. Water was completely opposite way the other people were running. People were running towards the city, to the streets, parking lot, cars, buildings.

And that's when I realized how much sense Coopers suggestion made.

It's more likely, if another bomb exists, that it would be closer to where more people will be. It's easier to drop a bag behind a car, another stand, in trash can near a building. Planting a bomb near water...seemed less likely to happen.

Good thinking - I thought. Cooper always managed to keep a clear and leveled head during extreme situations.

Lena and Cooper had a brief stare down, before she nodded "Let's go. Stay close, everybody!"

We were about to head towards the water, the beach, but Cooper stopped " Wait!" he called

Looking back at him, we saw that Duke was fighting back. Cooper gave a pull on the leash, urging him to follow him. But Duke barked, looked back at us like trying to tell us something, turned towards where the smoke was coming and barked again. Insisting that we should be going the other way, follow him.

"Duke! Come on, boy!" I told the dog but all he did, was pull harder on the leash Cooper was holding. He was yanking Cooper like a doll. Dogs are truly strong and powerful. When Cooper was not cooperating, Duke increased the strength. Pulling him again and again towards the chaos. More barking followed, until he used so much force that the leash slipped out of Coopers hand as it had cut too painfully into his palm. All Cooper could do was let go, unless he wanted for Duke to dislocated his shoulder.

"Damn…" Cooper held his palm, it was red from the rough leash pulling as we all watched how Duke ran full spread into the crowd and disappeared from our sight

"He will find us. He knows where home is," Cooper said turning back to us "Lets go," Cooper placed his hand on my shoulder. I took one last glance to where Duke had ran, before following my family.

Amy POV

"Callie!" I called out frantically searching for her. My eyes scanned over multiple bodies on the ground. There was debris from the stands that were torn apart from the blast, hats, and bags, and shoes, shattered phones, and water bottles, toy animals, food scatted all around. All covered in blood and dust. Some of the people were moving, groaning, crying, screaming in pain and agony, trying to sit up, stand up, others were out cold, motionless, maybe even dead. Part of me wanted to help them all, but I knew I couldn't. It hurt to walk pass them, but I had to find my daughter.

"Callie!" I called out for her again as I continued to walk to where I thought she might be

My heart was racing, beating so fast I thought I could hear it echo in my eyes. The radio on my shoulder rung out. Other police officers interacting with each other. Asking if others were hurt, their location, update about the situation, if anyone had seen anything.

 _EMT's, fire department and police are on the way to your location. Few minutes out!_ The dispatcher said over the radio.

I turned towards the sound of someone coughing. Someone pushed off a debris, that looks like some sort of light wood panel. Once it was off their back, the person remained on their knees and hands. Though, being on all four, the person was still swaying, head hanging down. The shirt and pants were ripped, covered in blood and what else. I was looking long and hard, till I recognized that person as Callie, mainly because of the radio, that was still over her shoulder, around her back and front. Her radio was emitting the static noise.

"Callie!" I called out in relief of seeing her alive

Her right hand lifted up from the ground, left palm still remained pressed to the ground, as if she was trying to maneuver her body to a more upwards position. Her left leg moved as well just slightly to have a better balance. She swayed, groaned and breathed heavily. But Callie had managed to get up to her feet. Though, never had I ever seen her look so unstable, so much swaying in spot. Her right arm hung limp beside her, she was putting her weight of her right leg as well.

The right half of her face was red. The one injury I was certain off was the one on the side of her right temple and forehead as I saw blood still oozing out, continuing to cover her right side of the face and dropping down to her clothes. She looked absolutely horrific, completely out of it, confused, exhausted, with unclear mind and still in shock.

"You're bleeding," I found the words leaving my mouth as I ran up to her. Useless, I know, saying the obvious. Yet I still said it. As strange as it was, I found bleeding a good sign. It meant that she was live. Her body was still pumping blood through her veins. Keeping her alive. And alive was good. It's what I need her to be. We can overcome any injury, she just have to stay alive. Breathing. Long enough for us to get through this rough phase.

She hadn't acknowledged me as if she hadn't heard me. When she looked at me, her eyes looked through me as if she did not see me stand in front of her. Eyes unfocused.

Callie turned her head, to look at the damage around. To the other injured people. To the source of the explosion. Her left arm raised up and pointed at a direction and she muttered something incoherent. When she put her palm up against her own forehead, she felt the blood. Pulling her hand back, she looked at her own palm, that was covered in her own blood.

Her mouth moved again, but she said nothing that I could understand. The one word I did manage to catch was _wave._ But what came before or after will probably remain a mystery forever.

Once again, she swayed in her spot. Instinctively, I grabbed her by the shirt, to make sure she doesn't fall and hurt herself even more. With her right, she was searching for something steady to hold on to. Then slowly and steady I helped her sit down.

"Let's lay you down," I told her as I slowly and steadily, keeping my hands on both side of her waist guided towards a sitting position on the ground. Once in the sitting position, her upper body gravitated towards the ground as well.

Placing my hands on her neck, I lowered her head down to the ground "That's it...nice and easy." Keeping my hands on both side of her neck, I made sure her head was stabilized and still as possible. My thumbs resting under her chin, fingers on the side of her neck.

Her eyes kept darting around, though not sure what she was looking for.

It sounded like the word _sound_ and _wave_ and _go_ was said this time. But I could not understand what she meant by it, what she was trying to say.

"Shh, sssh, shhh," I hummed softly as I kept watching her "I know you are really confused and scared right now, and that's okay, love. I am really scared too. But I got you. You hear me, I got you. I'm not going anywhere. You're not going anywhere as well, Callie. I'm going to stay right here with you. And when the paramedics come, I'm going to go with you. I'm not leaving you alone. I'm right here. Keep looking at me, love."

I felt something touch my left arm. Looking down, I saw her bloody hand gripping my foreamr. She was holding on to me for dear life. Though her grip wasn't as half as strong as it could be any other time of the day.

I choked back the lump in my throat and forced to look back at her eyes "I'm here, pumpkin. I'm here. Stay with me," I continued to speak to her as we waited for help to come.

Raising my head up, I heard sirens in the distance. Help was coming. We just had to wait.

But what arrived first, wasn't anyone that I had anticipated.

I saw Duke, sniffing the ground, making his way towards us. His leash, dragging beside him on the ground. He sniffed around us as if checking us out. Duke licked my face, but then turned to Callie. After a couple of sniffs around Callie, Duke looked to me and whimpered, as if asking me what happened.

"I know, boy. I know," I whispered to him. Duke looked back at Callie and whimpered some more. I think he didn't understand, why Callie wasn't excited to see him. Why wasn't she paying any attention to him. He was right here, next to her. And she didn't even raise a hand to pet him once on the head. To scratch his ear.

Duke walked to the other side and laid down by Callie's side. As the loyal dog that he was, he didn't leave her side. With his muzzle he gently pushed at Callie's palm nudging her.

And Callie did react to him "Duke..." I heard her say weakly. I watched as she rested her left palm on top of Duke's head. Duke wriggled away from her touch for a moment, only to lick her palm a couple of times, before allowing her hand to find the top of his head again and her fingers to dig into his soft fur, seeking comfort.

 **AN: The end is kind of dedicated to my dog. My black Labrador has actually saved me from getting bit by an angry neighbors dog, who was trying to attack me by stepping between me and the other dog. Also, the one time that I had passed out from too high blood pressure, I woke up to my dog licking my face and lying next to me.**

 **Dogs truly are our best friends.**

 **Also, this goes without saying. Thank you to those who are still with me and support me even after all this time.**


	23. Friends and family Part XIII

Beth POV

People, who had been lucky enough to be standing outside the blast radius, but close enough to feel it in their bones and feel the shock wave, like I had, were running left and right around me. It felt like I was in the epicenter of it all. just because I am a paramedic, doesn't mean I'm completely immune to situations as this. I was no different from the others, I too was in shock of what had happened. My ears were still ringing from the sudden loud noise but my mind was not clear. I was scared out of my damn mind.

Once the initial shock passed, I started to move. I stood out from the crowd as I was the only one, who tried to walk towards, where the blast had happened, not run away from it. My partner was there, somewhere. From the outside, I probably looked like the crazy person. Someone constantly bumped into me, slowing my walking down, significantly.

"Callie, come in!" I pressed the button on my radio trying to get in touch with my partner as I was trying to locate her. There was no answer. Only static sound. I tried to reach her again, but just like the first time, I got no response.

I had to briefly stop and help a man get up from the ground, who had tripped and fallen down, now in the danger of being stomped on. He thank me, once he was on his feet, before he continued to hurry out of here.

Once the area had cleared out of the people, who were okay to leave on their own, I saw the real damage the blast had done. And it wasn't anything like I had seen before. Surely, this sight will haunt me for the next couple of week. It wasn't just the sight, that got to me. It was a combination of the 3 senses - sight, hearing and smell.

But what really knocked the air out of my lungs, was witnessing, how Amy was calling out for her daughter. I heard the desperation, fear and the panic in her voice. The realization of what that meant, hit me hard. My knees got weak for a moment.

And if I was feeling like this, I can't even imagine how Amy was feeling right now.

Amy didn't see me standing here. She wasn't looking for me. Her eyes were on the people on the ground. People, who had been caught in the blast.

When Amy took of running towards someone, I was too afraid to look. Too scared of the possible outcome. Of her losing another child.

Looking to where Amy had come from, I saw Stef in the distance as well. Her head was leaned down to her left shoulder, hand was on the radio as well. She was in communication with someone. A second later, I saw her do a 360 scan of the area. She leaned slightly towards the her radio again, did another 360, but stopped when she spotted someone. Stef said something in the radio, and put her hand on her holster by her side.

The bastard was still on the scene. He must be watching.

The hunt of the person responsible had started.

A moment later, not sure from where, two more police officers ran up to her. They talked to each other. Pointed to the direction of the parking lot and then all of them took off running towards where they had just pointed.

As I averted my attention back to Amy, I saw help a person sit down. The person must be Callie, though, she was completely unrecognizable form this distance. It has to be. I need her to be. Otherwise, I might not know how I will be able to continue this job if she doesn't come out okay from all of this.

"Start there! I will take this side!" I heard a person shout, but I paid no attention to the voices

"Hey!" The paramedic called out, but I was still watching the centenary that was unfolding in front of me. My eyes were on Amy and Callie.

"Hey!" this time the voice came from someone right by my side and I felt a hand on my shoulder. That snapped me out of my thoughts. I turned towards the person. Vincent, the paramedic that I had just heard calling out, was standing next to me.

"Are you hurt?" he asked with a worried expression, his eyes going up and down me as he assessed if I needed any medical attention

"No," I shook my head making eye contact with him "No, I'm good. Just a little bit shook, that's all."

"Where's your partner?" He asked looking around

"I think she was caught in the blast," I replied looking over to Amy, who was now leaned down over Callie. Vincent's eyes followed my gaze. He took a moment to process the information that one of his colleges was injured and also the fact that we were a man down until the help gets here.

"Are you good to go?" Vincent turned back to me

I gave back a firm head nod "I'll go get my bag and be right back."

Job awaits. I can't just stand here and mope around, while people around me could be dying. Callie and all the other people needed our help. They were depending on us. I can't waist any more time.

"Go!" Dominic urged me, patting me on my shoulder, before he ran towards the first injured person that he saw.

As I turned towards, where Callie and I had parked the ambulance, I saw Callie's dog, Duke, coming towards me. His nose was down to the ground, he was sniffing the path. Duke walked in a circle, where Callie and I had stood and chatted in the shadow, before coming to the ice cream stand. Once he picked up Callie's scent again, he came towards me. It appeared, that he had run away from the rest of the family, as his leash was dragging next to him.

Duke stopped, when he saw me. But it wasn't for long. The next second his nose was to the ground again and continued to move towards where Amy and Callie where.

I sprinted towards the ambulance, grabbed both of the bags and ran back as fast as I could.

* * *

Some few hours later I was sitting on the back of the ambulance and pouring what little water was left in the bottle over my head as I was trying to cool down. Never had a day drained me out like today had. All the running, the heat, the stress of the situation, had left me completely exhausted. And I barely had enough energy left in me to keep going. All of the casualties had been taken care of. People who needed it, where taken to the nearest hospitals. There was no one left, that needed any more of my help. It was now mostly police, who were in the area.

The total count of how many people didn't make it, how many more were in hospital in critical condition, we will find out only on the news the following days.

After sitting on the back of the ambulance for another 5 minutes, just to catch my breath, I drove back to the firehouse.

When I entered the building, I was met by all of the guys. They were already out of the uniforms, washed and cleaned up. Of course, everyone already heard the news.

I received a quick hug from all of them, before Kyle asked me "We're all going to the hospital. You coming?" The boys had been waiting for me, so we could all go there together as the family/team that we were.

"5 minutes. I will hop in the shower real quick."

"Sure thing," Kyle patted me on the shoulder. I felt all of their eyes on me as , when I headed to the wardrobe to get a quick shower.

"Hey!" My Captain Raymond Jennings called, when I had reached the doors to the wardrobe. I turned to him, without saying anything in return.

"You did good. I'm proud of you, Beth!" He praised me. I simply nodded back and managed to return a small smile, before I disappeared into the wardrobe.

Jude POV

How long does it take to write a text message?

It's probably depending on how much the user uses the phone, how advances are the persons typing skill, how well does the person knows how to handle the certain mobile phone, in what situation is the person typing the message, are acronyms used. There are of course many more parameters to take into consideration to answer that question.

 _R u ok -_ this would probably not take more than 2 seconds for me

 _I'm okay_ – I would say 5 seconds

 _R you safe?_ \- somewhere around 7

 _Where are you? -_ Out of all, this would probably take me the longest. 10 seconds.

There were 3 people, we had sent text message of the sort.

There were 3 people, we were waiting a text message from.

Yet there were zero people, who had answered us or written to us.

And it was driving us absolutely crazy as it had been over two hours, but still we had no idea if Stef, Amy or Callie are okay.

Lena had sent the same text to all three of them. Saying that we were all together. We were all safe and okay. And asking about if they were safe/okay and if they knew anything about the others.

We were all restless. The stress and worry was getting to us all. Jesus had snapped at me, when I had asked if he's okay after he had paced the length for the hundredth time. Of course he apologized once he realized how he had responded. Mariana had started to bite her thumb nail. Brandon was constantly checking his phone, to see what time it was, but the minutes went by painfully slow. Cooper was constantly rubbing his right palm, with which he had held on to Duke's leash before he had run off. Lena was being completely still, staring down at the phone in her hand, waiting for it give out the notification sound or buzz. Frankie hasn't really stopped crying, she was so scared for her mom and others. She wasn't crying out loud, but a single, silent tear rolled down her cheek every now and then. Frankie wiped them away quickly, but another one would just appear a moment later. But I had actually found myself praying to myself even though I do not believe in God.

We were all going crazy. The longer we waited, the more horrible scenarios our brains created. Brain was horrible that way. I wished I could turn it off. Just till we receive some more news about the situation.

"Oh my gosh!" Lena jumped at the sudden sound of her phone, scaring the rest of us

"Who answerd?" Brandon was first to ask

"It's Amy!" Lena said unlocking her phone and going to the messages

"What is she saying?" Cooper marched closer to her

Lena stared at the screen, but said nothing. Seconds passed. She remained quiet. Her eyes fixated on the screen. I saw her face drop as her eyes scanned over the words in the message.

"Mama, what does it say?" Jesus pressed on

Lena slowly looked up to us and gulped down, before saying slowly and quietly, almost as if she was too afraid to say it out loud "It says – Saint Cross hospital."

* * *

We didn't even need to go inside the hospital to find Amy. She was sat on one of the chairs not far from the entrance, with Duke sitting right by her. His head was placed on Amy's lap and she was slowly running her palm over Duke's head, petting him non stop. All while staring blankly and numbly at the ground, like her whole World had shattered beneath her feet. There was dried blood on her hands and clothes. Some of it had gotten to Duke's fur as well.

We all knew it then and there, just by seeing how Amy, that the injured person was Callie. No need to ask to clarify it.

"Amy," Cooper announced himself as he crouched down by her, taking the had she was not using to pet Duke into his

She slowly raised her head to look at him, then at us, and finally back at Cooper.

"What happened?"

Her mouth parted a little as if she wanted to answer, but no sound came out. Instead, she shrugged her shoulder and slowly shook her head as if she had no idea how to answer.

"How bad is it?" I asked, dreading the answer, but still needing to hear it

Amy's reaction was basically the same as before. Mouth parted as if she wanted to answer, but simply couldn't. Only this time, the shrug and head shake was replaced with bowing her head down and Duke whimpering out and pressing even closer to Amy's leg, pushing her palm, so that she would continue to pet him.

"Oh my gosh," I heard Lena gasp behind me

"Was she alive, when..." Cooper questioned carefully. Thankfully, Amy nodded her head this time. I let out a breath I was holding, but at the same time, took a step back running my hands through my hair.

Cooper took the seat next to Amy on the bench and pulled her into her side, kissing her cheek and holding her tightly as much as she allowed. Amy did not cry. No, she was putting on a brave face.

Mariana pulled on my shirt. I glanced to her. Without saying anything, she pulled me into a hug and hugged me so tightly, it almost hurt.

"She's going to be okay," I heard Jesus whisper in my ear as I felt him wrap his long arms around both of us, Mariana and me.

"Positive thoughts," Brandon said joining the family hug

Frankie and mama joined the hug without saying anything.


	24. Friends and family Part XIV

Lena POV

I received a call from Stef some hour after we had arrived at the hospital. She had been working non-stop since the explosion took place. There had been no time to look at her phone as they were literally chasing down the possible person responsible. As it turned out, they she was now almost all across the city. The police and the special task unite were now trying to figure out what their next step was and how to handle the whole situation further.

Hearing her voice, hearing that she was unharmed, was a huge relief off all of our shoulders. I had put her on the speaker, so that everyone could hear her and talk to her. Even if it was just to say - _say mom_ or _we love you._ Without a doubt, needed to hear each other voice went both ways. I'm sure, Stef had been going out of her mind, not knowing how we were or where we were or if we were safe. Now that we finally got in touch, I felt a lot calmer.

Once everyone had the chance to speak to her, I set it back to private and put the phone back to my ear, and walked outside of the hospital. Not going far, I stayed just couple of meters from the main entrance.

"Is it just you now?" Stef asked, I could hear in it her voice - she was tired and wanted for all of it to be over and done

"Yes, it's just me," I said leaning back at the wall, rubbing my temple slowly with my free hand that wasn't holding the phone

"Lena…" Stef paused, her voice was heavy, so I knew, she was about to drop some news to me "We saw her."

"What?" I gasped out and stopped massaging my temple

"We saw her get blow away. One moment she was smiling, waving at us, coming toward us...the next..." Stef cut her sentence short, not being able to finish

She didn't need to finish the sentence for my brain to imagine how it had went down. And the image in my head, that my mind painted for me, horrified me. I was left speechless. More than anything, I wanted to get that image out of my mind. But no matter how hard I tried to shake it away, it was still there. Putting my palm over my mouth, I suppressed the cry. But it did not stop the tears from falling.

It became very clear to me as to why Amy still hadn't said a single word.

Seeing your child hurt, being helpless to take the pain away, watching how the child was fighting to stay alive was bad and hard enough. But witnessing first hand, how it happened, is even worse. No wonder Amy was so broken and devastated. This will haunt her for the rest of the days. She will never forget it, she will never be able to get that moment out of her mind. It will stay with her like a shadow, just handing over wherever she will go.

I would be scared to let my child out of my sight after that and no doubt, Amy will be the same.

"Lena, love...are you there?" I heard Stef's soft and full of concern voice on the other end of the call.

"Yeah...yeah," I chocked out, wiping the tears away "I'm here. I just...I.." I shook my head, it was too hard to form a normal sentence together.

"I know," Stef said and another silence fell between us "I have to go, love. I love you. I will try to get there as soon as possible," she said the last part in a hurry

"I love you too! Please, be careful."

I ended the phone call, but was in no hurry to get back inside. Before I go back, I needed to gather myself us. I needed to stay strong, for the rest of them. Amy needed people to lean on and she will need all of us for that.

It took me a bit longer than I had anticipated as I had let myself cry and let all of it, all of what had happened today, out of my system. I needed the release, before I could be the person the rest of the family needed me to be.

When the tears strains were no longer visible on my cheeks, I leaned off the wall, ready to head back inside the hospital, but I stopped, when I saw a large group of people arriving. It consisted of men only, that I could see. All tall, strong and very confident looking men. If it wasn't for the man, that was leading them, who was dressed in a dark blue pants, white shirt with a firefighter emblem over the chest, and carrying a radio over his shoulder, I would have not realized who they were.

These were people from Callie's work. The firefighters she works with.

As the man in front, obviously the Captain of the Firehouse, disappeared into the hospital, followed by the rest of the men, I saw that there was one woman in the group as well. She was walking at the very end and compared to all of the men, she seemed so tiny. Walking like this, it almost seemed like she had her own group of bodyguards.

And I did recognize her. It was Beth, Callie's partner.

She had definitely looked the most physically exhausted and mentally drained out of all of them. And quite possibly, the one who had the most thought running wild at the given moment as she sure looked like she was lost in her own thoughts, not really paying attention to anything that was happening around her.

Beth was dragging her feet, her hands were in the pockets and she was walking with her head down.

She looked up right before entering the hospital. Seeing and recognizing me, she stopped and started at me for a moment, before changing the direction and coming towards me.

The closer she got, the more she tried to present herself better. Like she wasn't feeling so down. But her eyes and features and the whole body language, still betrayed her.

I had only met Beth few times. can't say that I have had the chance to really get to know her, to talk to her one-on-one. The few times that I have talked to her, like earlier today, she was with Callie and working. Not really the best time to get to know a person. I wouldn't call us friends exactly. Acquaintances more likely, but I would never turn her away and I was looking forward to someday having that one-on-one conversation with her for more than 1 minute. I had the most respect for what she did and from the little conversation that we have had, she seemed like a very nice, gentle and caring person.

"Hi," she said shyly as she took her hands out of the pockets. But the problem with that was, now she didn't know what to do with her hands. Eye contact with her was brief as her eyes were mostly averted to the ground between us. Her face was red, probably, from spending so much time in the Sun today and her hair was still wet. Her arriving only now, meant that she had been working on the scene till recently and that would clearly explain why she was looked so exhausted.

Seeing her like this, played with the strings of my heart and I just wanted to give the young woman a hug. She looked like someone, who needed a hug, badly but was too afraid to ask for it. At this moment, right now, like she stood in front of me, she reminded me of Jesus, Mariana and Jude, when they first got to us.

"Hi," I smiled at her

"Any news?" Beth asked, now picking her own fingernails with the other hand fingernails

I shook my head and told her everything that I knew, but it was not much "Last we heard from the nurses, was the she's in a surgery."

Beth nodded her head slowly, accepting the news. She probably expected to hear something along the lines.

"I know the doctors here," she gestured towards the hospital entrance "They are good doctors. She's in good hands."

"I hope you are right," I replied quietly, averting my eyes to the ground between us as I prayed for that to be true

"Is your family..." she wondered

"We're all okay," I quickly confirmed, cutting her off mid sentence "We were on the other side of the Fair, when it happened."

"That's good. That's good." She said, quieter the second time "Last I saw Stef she was still working-"

"Oh, um..yeah. I know. I ended a phone call with her just now, actually. She's alright as well."

"That's good to hear," Beth repeated herself

When she looked to me the next time, she finally managed to hold eye contact with me for longer than 2 seconds "Amy?"

"Hasn't said a single word, since we arrived," I answered honestly "We're actually quite worried about her. But it's not like we can make her talk. She will, when she's ready. We just need to give her time."

"Just knowing what she has already been through with Markus and Aaron," I noticed Beth swallow a lump in her throat at the mention of Amy's deceased son and husband, and only then I remembered that she had lost Markus as well. But it was too late. You can't pick up spilled water. I mentally kicked myself for not thinking about it sooner.

"…and now this happened. I mean, I think I can imagine what's going on in her mind, but still..." I let out a sigh and shook my head slowly as I was not able to finish my thought.

"We're worried," I concluded at the end

"How are you?" I gave her a question in return as she didn't say anything afterwards I told her about Amy. I believe I had done a little damage by mentioning Markus to her.

"I'm..." she was slightly taken aback by my question, even took a small step back increasing the distance between us. Beth scratched the side of her neck and ran her hand quickly through her still wet hair, brushing it so that it falls to the other side of her face.

"You know," she shrugged running her hand over her nose again as she sniffed, trying to brush off her own feelings as if she, her feelings, were not important

My head tilted to one side "I don't," I pressed on, but softly, keeping a close eye on her. And as weird as it was, in this moment, I saw no difference between her and my now kids. How recrulant they had been about sharing, about becoming vulnerable and allowing other people to help her, and seek comfort in others.

Her eyes snapped up to mine and she started back "I'm fine," Beth shrugged after a longer pause, not convincingly at all.

I saw through her lies as a small laugh escaped my mouth, making Beth look at me perplexed by my reaction.

"Oh, Beth..." I decreased the distance between us and set my hands on her shoulders, she stared into my eyes "I have heard that line too many times to know that is a lie. So, how about we try again, huh? How are you?"

Beth returned to avoiding my gaze, she turned her head slightly to the right. I saw her starting to bite her lower lip. She was fighting herself on this hard. Trying to keep it together, but also wanting to talk it out, share with someone. I might not be the person she wanted to talk to, but I was here now, listening, offering her the chance to get it all off her chest.

She sucked in a quick, but deep breath, before she blurt out "I'm so fucking scared and exhausted!" As our eyes finally met again, I saw they were full with tears, that were threatening to spill over any second now.

"I don't know if I can take loosing another Scott!" the tears dropped, the moment she said it

"We're not going to lose her!" I assured her, strongly believing it, as I pulled Beth into a hug allowing the young woman cry it out

Amy POV

This was the most unfunny joke life has ever played out with me. I would even go as far and say it was beyond cruel.

It felt sort of like a _Deja Vu._

I have been here before. Not just the hospital, but in the situation as well.

The same nurse, that I had spoken to when I had arrived then, was the one who had stopped me and held me back from following the gurney with Callie on into the emergency room.

Callie had the same exact emergency doctor, who was on call the day Markus was brought in and who was trying to save his life. Yet he had failed miserably the first time around.

Neither of them, of course, remember me. And honestly, I don't expect them to. They have had thousands of people coming and going through here during these last few years. How could they. But I, well, that's completely different story because I will never forget their faces. Neither will I ever forget the face of the truck driver who was guilty of killing my family.

I was sitting in the same fucking, uncomfortable chair as I had that day. Only this time, I don't have Callie by my side. I have Cooper, and Callie's brother and his whole family, except for Stef, who was still working. The Adams Foster kids, took turns to go walk with Duke around the hospital, because no dogs are allowed in hospital, not even the waiting room or lobby. And whoever came up with that rule, is a fucking idiot, because dogs can help so much. They are such good companions.

This is biggest coincidence that I had ever witnessed. If it was a sign, of what was about to happen, then screw everyone, screw this whole World and Universe. It may sound dark, who am I kidding, it is dark, but I don't want to live in a World without Callie in it. I had somehow suffered through losing one child, I cannot take that pain a second time. Knowing, how it felt, what could be in store for me again if it happens, was simply too much.

Out of the anger that I felt, I pulled both of my hands in fists.

I felt Jesus tap my forearm. When I glanced to him, he pointed towards someone. Following his gaze, I saw Callie's Captain Raymond Jennings and what appeared to be the whole Firehouse behind him, walking in the waiting room.

He walked up to me, expressed his condolences about what had happened during the Fair and the whole situation that Callie was in now, before telling me that if I need anything, I can turn to him. The firehouse was ready to help with whatever we need, because in a way, they were her family as well. In response I simply nodded my head. Appreciating the gesture. All the firefighters came inside the waiting room and sat down, filling basically all of the remaining empty seats. It was already pretty crowded in here because Callie was not the only one, who was brought to this hospital after the explosion. There were at least 5 more families, who were here because of the same reason Callie was here.

A while later, Lena returned inside, along with Beth. The look the young woman gave me, spoke more value then words ever could. In a way, she was in the same fucking boat as I was. Different Scott, different kind of friendship, but still the same situation. No words were needed from her, for me to know that she was sorry and, just like the Captain Jennings had said, here for me as well if I need anything.

Minutes passed by, followed by hours. No news. No updates. Brandon and Frankie were now walking with Duke outside, keeping him company.

I needed to streach my legs, I had been sitting for far too long.

I got up and walked out. Without saying anything or looking back that the others.

I walked down the familiar hallway. Still remembering like it was yesterday, how I had been walking here with Callie beside me. She had asked if I had wanted to get hot coffee.

As I was approaching the coffee machine, I pulled out the few coins that I always carried with me, just so I could buy coffee or a pastry during the lunch time. Looking at the options, I decided to go for a hot chocolate, instead of the black coffee with milk I had taken while I was waiting for news about Markus.

I counted the needed coins. The first one that I picked up, slipped out of my fingers. The sound of a coin hitting the ground echoed throughout the hallway. Crouching down, I quickly picked the coin up, before I lost it and put it inside the machine. Then added the rest of the coins. The machine buzzed and made all the other weird sounds as it made me the required drink.

 _Please take your drink_

The message appeared on the small screen. So I did. I grabbed the drink and turned to walk back to the waiting room.

I took the first sip of the hot beverage and almost burnt my tongue, it was so hot. Decided to blow on it as I walked back. My eyes went between looking at the drink and the hallway in front of me. Part of me was scared to see the doctor coming to find me in the hallway, similar like the police officers had found me and told me about Aaron.

Thankfully, nothing of that sort happened this time. I reached the waiting room and sat back down, next to Cooper and Jesus, where I had sat before I had left. It took me about 10 minutes to slowly drink the whole drink. Cooper was so kind to take the empty cup and throw it out for me.

Then, the _Deja Vu_ feeling returned as Callie's doctor walked inside the waiting room and took off his scrub hat. The scrub hat, of course, was the same fucking dark hat with the same silly cartoon drawings on top, because doctors are superstitious like that. His face was as serious as it gets. So I braced myself, as much as I possibly could, for the news.

"Mrs. Scott Ellis?" He asked to confirm I was the person who he was looking for. I nodded back. In my peripheral vision I saw how the whole Firehouse gang jumped up on their feet. Cooper gripped my hand that was resting on top of the armrest. The whole Adams Foster gang held their breath along with me.

"Your daughter is in recovery," he announced smiling down at me


	25. Friends and family Part XV

**AN: Not a doctor. Hopefully, at least part of what I wrote is somewhat accurate.**

Amy POV

Doctors always say do not try to make a diagnosis yourself. Nothing good can ever come out of it. It just added an extra layer of worry. Yet I had still done it. I had looked up the possible trauma Callie could have while we had been waiting to hear news. When I had read the articles on WebMD and other sites, I had made a list of trauma that I had seen on Callie.

I had learned that blast/explosion injuries are separated into four different categories.

Primary, which was caused by the impact of supersonic blast wave on body.

Secondary, which was caused by the impact of debris from blast onto body.

Tertiary, which was caused by the impact of body thrown by blast onto environmental surfaces or debris.

Quaternary, which was cause by all explosion-related injuries, illnesses or diseases that were not cased by the first 3.

The list of traumas under each category was truly terrifying.

The doctors face didn't give any indication as to how good or bad her condition was, making the walk even more harder and unbearable than it already was. The anticipation of finally learning the truth, the real situation was eating at me.

Cooper and I followed the doctor to a more private area, which was located three floors up and a lot closer to where we will be able to see Callie later on. It was a smaller room, with an oval table in the middle surrounded by chairs. There was a kids corner, with all kind for toys, drawing books, pencils. A water cooler stood next to the doors. The large window out looked the city. We were on the 4th floor, so the view was quite nice. Unlike the rest of the hospital, this room, somehow, did not smell like disinfectant.

Once we all had sat down the doctor started to explain in more detail about Callie's condition.

My fear came to life, when I was listening to the doctor explain Callie's injures because her trauma fell into all four of the categories. The list of her injuries was long. Too long. I could barely listen to it all without my stomach turning. Part of my wanted to just scream "Stop" and cover my ears with my hands, because I could not listen any more, but other part, needed to hear all of it, even the smallest detail, despite how horrible and excruciating it was to hear and to imagine how much it hurt, how long it will heal and how it will affect Callie's life.

The doctor had started with a trauma that fell under the fourth category. Callie had some partial 2nd degree burns on the right side of her body – leg, arm and torso. That' s understandable as her right side had been turned to the blast source. Doctor consoled us by saying it's not as bad as we probably are imagining it. With proper treatment and some luck of course, there is a chance to avoid any scarring. Thankfully, she had been far enough to avoid the 3rd degree burns.

Her collar bone and two ribs on her left side are broken most likely from being thrown by the blast and landing onto something or just hitting the ground hard.

Smaller and bigger contusions, scrapes, gashed and cuts were covering her whole body. Those were from whatever was flying through the air and had hit her body. The worst, was the gash on her head, by the hairline. It had required, what to me sounded like a record number of stitches. It explains, why there had been so much blood on her head, face, shirt. Another nasty, uneven and deep laceration was on her right tight, caused by a piece of shard that had been embedded in her muscle. Now I know why she had been trying to take pressure off her leg.

She had also been suffering from some internal bleeding. The supersonic wave from the blast might have caused that. Doctor informed us that the surgery, they had done, repaired whatever was bleeding successfully, without any complications.

For me, it was the hardest to listen the doctor speak to us about the TBI. Which I knew, was very common injury from this type of trauma. Thankfully, it appeared that she might have only a mild TBI.

She had been mostly conscious, while I had been with her, during the ride to the hospital and in the emergency room, which was a good sign. Her eyes had opened spontaneously, they had been following the doctors as they had moved around her. Time by time, her eyes had closed as she was drifting off, but then waking up again.

But when asked to do a simple tasks such as – wiggle feet, squeeze the doctors hand, look left or right, answering a simple question about telling them her name – Callie had been non responsive. That had at first made the doctors fear for more sever TBI. However, that fear was erased after another doctor, who had been assessing her injures, had informed them that Callie most likely was suffering from loss of hearing, because of the ruptured eardrums, and could not hear what they were asking her to do. After further assessment, however, it was clear that she had not lost movement of her limbs. Her feet had twitched, when a pen had been dragged across the sole. She had squeezed back the nurses hand.

The doctor was optimistic, saying she will regain her hearing once her eardrums heal, it will take a few days to two weeks. As for the head trauma, they will know more once she wakes up and can do some more tests. She will be monitored closely for the first few days.

The recovery was certainly going to long and bumpy, but the doctor was optimistic that she will recover.

"Do you have anymore questions at this point?" The doctor asked us after he was done listing all of the injures

I squeezed Coopers hand harder, so he would turn and look at me. Cooper had been doing all of the talking with the doctor, as I still was keeping mum. I could not get the words out of my mouth. They were there, on the tip of my tongue. My mind was screaming all the questions I still wanted to ask. But I just couldn't. I could not say them out loud.

I had not missed the concerned glance my way from the doctor because of my silence.

Cooper and I stared into each others eyes, as I was trying to tell him, what I needed to know. And Cooper read me like an open book, because the next moment, he turned back to the doctor and asked "When can we see her?"

"I do believe it won't be long anymore," Callie's doctor said "You can wait here. I will tell the nurses to come find you, when Callie's ready for visitors."

"Thank you, doctor." Cooper replied as both of the men stood up and shook each other hands.

Meanwhile, I stood up as well, only to walk over to the window and stare out to the city. It was dark already. Lights were turned on in the street and in the rooms inside the buildings. The city looked quite beautiful at night. It was a clear night, sky was full of stars, big moon. City seemed quiet. Peaceful, even, despite the fact of what had happened earlier today.

I hugged myself in a way to console myself, while I thought about how hard recovery we have in front of us. All I could do was let out a long sigh. I felt overwhelmed by thinking of the long road ahead.

One step a time - I told myself. The first step was Callie waking up. I will worry about the rest, after I have seen her big brown eyes looking back at me.

I felt arms wrap around me from behind and felt Cooper's body press up on me.

"We will get through this. Callie will get through this. We'll make sure of it," Cooper whispered in my ear before planting a soft kiss on my cheek. I nodded back vigorously as we remained in the embrace, staring out to the city.

Callie POV

It was the most bizarre thing I had ever seen.

Something I wished that would happen, but knowing very well that it was not possible. It will never happen in real life. The only way it could come true, was in my imagination or in my dreams. I was not sure, which was it now.

I was standing on the porch in my childhood home. My feet bare, feeling the cold wooden boards. Wearing only PJ pants and a t-shirt, that I know I had seen Markus wearing, the day I arrived at the Scott's. The air smelled fresh, like it had just rained. It was warm. The Sun was up high in the sky, must be the middle of the day.

In the small yard of my childhood home, next to the grill, stood Aaron and Cooper, both with an open beer bottle in their hands. Somehow, I had never thought that they could have anything in common, besides loving Amy and me. So seeing them interact with each other was truly interesting. They seemed to be in a deep conversation about something. I walked closer, curious as to what they were discussing as both of them seem to be really taken by the topic.

"-stadium has the best hotdogs I have ever tasted!" I head Aaron announce. Food. Stupid of me to not see it - they both did like to cook. Don't understand how I missed that. But this topic was also a mix with sport, which again, stupid of me, how I had missed that.

"Oh, yes!" Cooper agreed, nodding his head vigorously "I took Amy and Callie to a football game there last summer. Best hotdogs, I'm not afraid to say it, in the whole state!" they clinked their beer and each took a sip

"Does she like it? Football, I mean?" Aaron wondered a moment later

"Callie?" Cooper asked to make sure

Aaron nodded "I never got the chance to take her."

"She's not the biggest fan, but she did enjoy the family outing. Callie has watched it with me for company. I'm sure she would have loved to go to a game with you too."

I moved closer, wanting to talk with both of them, but my attention was grabbed by Markus calling out.

"Catch!"

As I spun around, I raised my arms arms, thinking a ball or some other object will hit my face. But I felt nothing. Lowering my arms, I looked to the other side of the yard. Jude had caught the football, Markus had thrown at him. My brother was so excited, he raised his arms up, threw the ball down and started to do a silly victory dance, making Markus clap and cheer from where he stood.

"You are getting good at this!" Markus told my brother

"I had a good teacher," Jude replied, picking up the ball, smirking at the older boy

"I'm going to run over there," Markus pointed to his left "Try to throw the ball there for me to catch. Ready?"

"Yes!" Jude held the ball close to his chest in both of his hands, ready to pull back and throw it

I wanted to stay and watch, but I heard my name being called "Callie!"

I turned on my heel, to the source of my the sound. It was my moms voice. Through the kitchen window, Colleen was waving for me to come inside. I was excited to see my birth mom and talk to her.

The scenery around me changed on its own. I didn't have to walk anywhere. Doing a 360, I realized that I was no longer in my childhood home, but I was in the Scott's house kitchen. Looking down, I noticed that my outfit had changed as well to simple blue jeans and a tank top. As I looked up I saw my moms. Birth and adoptive. Smiling. Talking and laughing, as if they were best friends since kindergarten, all while making dinner. Colleen was chopping something by the kitchen table, but Amy was mixing something in a bowl by the sink.

The conversation changed, it happened almost like I had skipped through or fast forwarded their talk.

Colleen had stopped chopping and was now by the sink. She put the cutting board in the sink and quickly washed it, then turned around, leaning with her back to the counter "I don't know how to thank you."

Amy put the tray (pan) of food in the stove and closed the doors. As she stood up, she smirked back in a very Amy manner and replied "It's just dinner Colleen."

Colleen smiled back before explaining further "No, I mean...about taking her in. Looking after her. Helping her through everything. Raising her like she was your own. Giving her a family. I'm afraid to think of what would have happened to her, if you two hadn't met. I knew Jude was safe, that he will be okay, but Callie...I feared for her so long. Until you came along."

Without saying anything, Amy walked up to Colleen and hugged her.

'I'm going to protect her as long as I possibly can," Amy promised Colleen as they leaned out of the hug

"Speaking of the devil," Amy looked to me and grinned, as she took step away from Colleen giving her back the private space

"Oh, hi, sweetheart. Your mom and I were wondering-" Colleen said turning to me

I ran towards my and hugged her tightly, basically crashed into her.

"Oh," I heard mom gasp at the sudden hug. It took her a moment, but she hugged me back. Cradling me close to her chest.

"I love you!" I told her. This was one my regrets. I never told her I loved her that night. Now that I had that opportunity, I sure as hell will take it.

"I love you, too, sweetheart," I felt her plant a soft kiss on my head

I felt some fabric grace my arm. Still remaining in my birth moms embrace, I turned my head and looked over my shoulder.

Amy threw her arms up and said with a small grin "Where's my hug, huh?"

"Then come hug me," I grinned back and reached out to her with my left hand, inviting her into the hug. Amy threw the towel over her shoulder and hugged me from behind. I was now mushed between my two moms.

I had to pull out of the hug, when out of nowhere, I started to get this strange feeling all over my body. It was like nothing I had ever felt before. After that, it felt like my whole body was tingling. Numbness followed afterwards. But then, everything started to hurt.

My right side -arm, leg and torso - felt like it was on fire. I ran over my other hand all over it, trying to sooth the sensation. But as I did it, I realized that it hurt when I put pressure on my right leg. So I shifted my weight to my left, but that only caused stabbing pain shoot through my ribs. I winced in pain realizing no matter what I do, it hurt.

"Callie, what's wrong?" Colleen asked me, worried, but Amy just stood and observed me from afar, without saying anything, as if she had already know this was going to happen.

"Something's wrong," I said stumbling back a step as I felt something drip down my temple. I tried to reach up, but pain shot through my collar bone, limiting my movement with my left arm. In the end, I reached up to wipe whatever it was off of me with my right. When I looked at my fingers, I saw blood on it. Lots of blood. I felt it as the warm liquid was dripping down my temple, cheek and in the end saw as a blood droplet fell to the floor right next to my feet. My head was pulsing, I started to feel dizzy and my stomach turned.

And just like it had happened before, the scenery around me changed. I was standing in a white, bright and long hallway. Markus and Aaron were standing next to Colleen on my left, but Amy was standing between Jude and Cooper on my right.

"What's happening?" I asked averting my attention to Amy, because previously, it had seemed as if she know what was happening

"You need to wake up, Callie!" Amy insisted

"What?" I frowned, not understanding what she meant by that "I am awake."

"No you are not," Jude replied taking a step closer to me "You need to come back to us."

My head snapped to the left as I heard my birth mom speak.

"Can't she stay a bit a longer?" Colleen asked them with pleading eyes. I wanted to side with my birth mom.

I wanted to stay here longer, wherever - _here_ \- was. This dream or imagination I had created in my mind - I liked it here. It felt real.

Cooper, the man, who went from being stranger to a father figure to me, was here. Along with my baby brother, who was careless and happy, enjoying life and I wanted to make up to him for all the time that we spent apart. And if Jude was here that meant that the Adams Fosters are somewhere here as well, just hiding for now, making sure that I spend all the time I have here with the people who I love the most.

My adoptive family was here and I would love nothing more to get another chance with them, to really get to know them, because I never got the chance the first time around as things were complicated back then.

But most importantly, my moms were here. The two people who are the most dearest to my heart.

"No," Amy said with tears in her eyes as she gazed across to my birth mom "We need her. I need her to wake up!"

That was all the explanation needed.

I understood, why I need to wake up.

It was dark, before it became light. My eyelids felt heavy, but I fought with everything I had to keep my eyes open. My vision was blurry at first. I had to blink a couple of times before it cleared up and I got used to the bright light. My feet felt the most warm, like the Sun was shining directly on them. Maybe it was. I felt the weight of the blanket on me. There was complete silence all around me, but my nose instantly picked up the strong disinfectant smell. Almost as if someone had just washed the floors and every surface.

Pain medication must be wearing off, because I started to feel it. First, it was barely there. I barely noticed it. But the longer I stared up the ceiling, the more intense the pain became. It hurt all over, from my head down to my toes.

I was starting to wonder how much longer will I be able to take it, before it becomes too much and my body gives in.

Out of nowhere, I saw a stranger pop into my line of sigh from the right side. A woman in her 30's I would say. Coal black hair that was taken in a ponytail. Wearing light blue scrub top. She smiled down at me. Her mouth moved, but I didn't hear a thing and could not read her lips as I had been focusing on her eyes.

My mouth was dry, lips stuck together. I had to lick my lips, before I managed to say out "...mom..."

I had no idea if she understood what I had just said. I thought about the word, but I was not sure if it had left my mouth the way I had thought about it. It was strange feeling, not hearing the words coming out of your mouth. Maybe I spoke so quietly, she didn't hear me. Or I might as well had shouted it at the woman. I didn't know.

She raised her hand up and pointed to my left. I guess I had got the message across.

I turned my head a little to my left. Just barely, but the movement still made my head hurt, I even got slightly dizzy.

My mom was sitting in a chair beside my bed. She was leaned onto the bed. Her head rested near my left hand ,faced turned towards me, but eyes closed. Amy was asleep. Moms left hand was placed over my lower legs, but her right was holding my hand. She was sleeping in what I think was one of the most uncomfortable position. But she was here. With me.

I felt a light touch on my chest. Just the fingertips. Looking back up, I concentrated on the woman's lips this time. Even thought I didn't hear it, I understood what she was saying.

"Rest."

The pain slowly started to fade away as I closed my eyes and fell asleep.


	26. Friends and family Part XVI

Stef POV

I got home late, around 1AM. Everyone was already asleep or at least in their beds, when I arrived. The lights were off, house was eerie quiet.

I went to the kitchen, dropped my keys in the bowl that stood on the island table, set my bag on one of the stools and made my way to the fridge. All without turning on the lights. I needed a cold drink. Any kind of drink -water, soda, beer – they all would help with the thirst. The first thing I saw was a bottle of water, so I reached for it.

Just as I had opened the bottle and raised it up to my lips, I heard a noise coming from the nook area.

It was like a scratching noise – nails against the floorboard – and breathing. The noise made all my senses alert. I felt the hairs on my back stand. My right hand instinctively went to the gun on my right hip as I lowered my drink. Slowly, I leaned backwards to see around the opened fridge doors, but it was too dark for me see anything.

I had half pulled the gun out, when a bark filled the room, which made me halt.

"What the-?" I muttered to myself, wondering if the noise and the bark was all part of my imagination Some weird way my brain was telling me that it needs a rest or that maybe, just maybe I wasn't actually _fine_ like I had told my Captain before leaving the station. She had given me a the next few days free and also scheduled an appointment with the stations psychologist. I had argued back about the latter saying I don't need to talk about it, even thought I knew better. It's standard procedure after traumatic events like the one today, technically yesterday, for everyone involved to see one. To make sure, we're ready to go back to work. There was no shame, if we weren't. I knew that very well, yet still I had argued. Out of habit for I did not like asking or needing help. I liked doing things on my own, deal with problems on my own.

The scratching sound started to come towards me, but as I looked towards the nook area, I did not see a thing. Until, I felt something wet touch my left hand that was holding the water bottle. And then a lick and another one. The light from the open fridge now allowed me to see the intruder.

My eyes had been searching for something my height. It never crossed my mind I had to look down.

"Duke?!" I was as excited as I was confused seeing the Scott's dog at our house. Quickly, I pushed the gun back in the holster, and crouched down his level and set the water bottle down on the ground beside me.

"What are you doing here, buddy, huh?" I asked as I petted him, while he licked my face a couple of time

"Dogs aren't allowed in hospitals, right? Cooper and Amy are probably staying at the hospital," I continued to have a conversation with him as I slowly pieced together why Duke was here instead of home "You worry about Callie, huh? " this time Duke gave out a whimper and pressed his head to my chest almost like asking for a hug "I know, I know. We are all worried," I ran my hands over his sides soothing him.

"I thought I heard you come in," I heard Lena's voice and looked up. The hallway was dark, but I saw a dark figure leaned at the doorway.

"Hi, love!" I breathed out happy to see her as I stood up

Lena came up to me and our lips met for a quick kiss, before she pulled back and grimaced "Yuck!" she ran her palm over her mouth "You taste like..." she looked down

"Oh, yeah...uh...Duke gave me kisses. Sorry, I forgot," I replied pulling her closer to me to hug her. Lena's arms wrapped around me tightly and held me in place.

"I'm so glad you're home safe and sound," Lena whispered to me as I felt her fingers press harder into my back

"Me too," I said without hesitation as I buried my head in her neck enjoying the closeness and the comfort the body, along with the heat that came from her

"We heard on the news that you caught him."

"We did. It's over." I confirmed it. It had been a long chase that had taken us all through the city. But, joining forces, we eventually we caught the guy.

"Lets go to bed. It's been a long day, you need to rest," Lena suggested, leaning out of the hug slowly, running her hands from my shoulders down to my palms

I nodded back "Will check on the kids first," I said before kissing her on the cheek. When I walked out to the hallway, I heard her close the fridge doors that I had completely forgotten about.

First, I entered the girls room. Frankie was sound asleep, Mariana stirred when I walked in. I went to Frankie first, tucked her in, kissed her on the forehead, before walking over to Mariana and sitting on her side of the bed.

"You're home," Mariana said quietly and sat up to give me a hug

I hummed back "Can't sleep?" I whispered back stroking her hair as she laid her head back down to the pillow

"Can't stop thinking about Callie,"

I nodded agreeing and understanding her, but now was the not the time to discuss it further as it was the middle of the night and we were all exhausted "We will talk more in the morning, love. Try to get some sleep."

I kissed her like I had kissed Frankie, then went to to the boys room. It was no surprise that I found the other three children also awake. Jesus was playing a game on his phone, Brandon had his earphones on, Jude was looking through old pictures of Callie and the rest of the gang.

When I finally got to bed, after taking a quick shower to wash away everything from today, it was 2 AM already. I laid down, let out a long and deep breath, glad that I was finally home. But the joy of being in my bed, next to my wife was short as the memory of Callie's body being thrown through the air, flashed right in front of my eyes. I put my arm over my eyes and tried to think of something else, something happier. Nothing came to mind.

Failing to get the images out of my mind, I changed position by rolling on my right side. Lena, like sensing my struggle, rolled up to me and spooned me, kissing my shoulder softy.

Next morning, which was actually closer to noon than an actual morning, I walked in the kitchen to find all of my family already sitting at the table. It's nice having the whole gang back even if it was only for couple of weeks.

It was Brandon, who set a fresh cup of coffee in front of me and placed a kiss on my temple "How did you sleep mom?"

"Not great," I admitted as I scratched my left eyebrow. I think I fell asleep only around 5-6am. It was now almost 11, so I was functioning on about 4h of bad sleep, that was mostly filled with nightmares and flashes of what I had seen in the previous 24 hours. I was not in a great mood as you could imagine. Felt a headache coming up. Possibly even a migraine.

Lena reached over and placed her hand on my forearm. Frankie got off from her stool and came to sit in my lap.

"Any news?" I nursed the cup in hands before raising it up to my lips

"Cooper texted. Callie woke up," Jude beamed at me "It was only for a minute, but she was awake!"

"That's great news," it truly was. It was a step right direction. It brightened my day just a little bit, yet I failed to show that with my voice tone.

"Maybe you can take Jude to see her later today?" Lena suggested

"You not coming with?" I raised an eyebrow at her

"Cooper said that, at the moment it's immediate family only. So, no reason for all us to go and sit at hospital the whole day."

"You could take him, you know." I said back before taking another sip, hoping the caffeine filled drink will help me get through this day

"I know, but I think you could talk to Amy while you are there," Lena replied as she looked down to her phone, which had buzzed

"You're her friend as well."

Lena set the phone down "You are her partner, Stef. She still hasn't said a word, maybe you-"

"I'm not her mother, Lena! I can't make her talk!" I shot back and then realized the room was completely silent. Lena stared back at me in shock, felt Frankie tense up in my lap, but then slid out and walked over to stand by Mariana. All the kids stared at me in disbelief of seeing and hearing me snap like that.

"Stef," Lena said calmly after a moment "What is this really about?"

"Amy will speak when she's ready. Me being there will not change anything."

"I know that, but you are her best friend. It would still mean a lot to her if you just went to see her. She needs the support, now more than ever!" my wife shook her head as she kept her eyes on me "And no, that's not it! That s not what really is bothering you."

"Nothing is bothering me Lena," I retort in a raised voice "Can you drop it? I want to drink my coffee in peace."

"Honey, you are the only one who is speaking in _that_ tone."

"What do you want from me?" I stood up suddenly and paced over to the sink, my back turned to them. I pressed my hands to the counter, tilted my head down.

"To say what really is bothering you," Lena coaxed gently as I heard her stood up as well.

"Nothing!" I shouted back as I spun around. Lena was unfazed by my attitude. The kids, on the other hand, well, I saw them flinch back.

"Stop lying, to yourself and to us." Lena walked closer to me

"You didn't see what I saw!"

"What did you see?" Lena asked me quickly, barely a beat had passed

"Everything!" I shouted back at her at the top of my lungs

I saw the bomb go off.

I saw Callie being swept off her feet as if she was nothing. I thought she had died. I had wanted to go search for her as well, but I couldn't. It was like that time, when Amy and I were shot. Amy had been lying on the ground, bleeding out, right in front of my eyes, but I couldn't help her, because there were still people shooting at us. We were still in danger. The chase after the explosion was just like those few minutes then, only dragged out for hours. And it absolutely killed me in the inside, that I was not there for Amy and Callie.

I saw the damage the explosion created. Destruction all around. The people groaning in agony, crying, pleading...dying. There was a severed arm. Blood everywhere.

I saw the hideout of the man who had created the chaos. I saw the bombs her had created and the blueprints for the ones he was still planning. They were different sizes. Starting from size of a knuckle, going as big that would only fit in a backpack. I had never seen so many C4 in one place before. There were nails, glass shard and other small, sharp objects that would cause more damage to human's body. He wanted to cause pain...to harm people...to watch them suffer.

I saw the man. The devil himself. He promoted himself as a genius, bragged about how smart he is, how he was above all, how the 'lesser' people ruin this county and he needed to eradicate them. I had other words that came to mind to describe him - maniac, psychopath, sociopath, crazy – but not a genius. He was unfazed by what he did. With a wicked smile. His eyes, I had never seen so dark and evil eyes. And his laugh…

"I got you. I'm right here, love!" I heard Lena sooth me as I found myself crying in her arms

Callie POV

The next time I woke up, I was greeted by mom.

Mom was smiling down at me, but there were tears in her eyes. They looked like happy tears. Even thought worry and fear was written in every pore of her face, the joy and relief in her eyes, when I met her gaze and managed a tiny, one sided smile back, trumped it all.

I felt a tug at my heart, when I realized that I was responsible for causing her the pain. Guilt washed over me, knowing that she had already been through too much already and I should not be adding to it.

Her lips moved in the very familiar pattern. She has said those words so many times to me, I could hear her say it, even without my hearing "I love you!"

She cupped my face gently and leaned down to place a tender kiss on my forehead. Her lips lingered a bit longer than they normally do. I closed my eyes to savior every second of the affection.

When I felt her lean away and no longer felt her touch, I opened my eyes, to see why was she leaving me. I managed to brush my fingers against her palm as moms back was turned to me. It was my desperate plea for her not to leave me. I didn't want to be alone. In my dream, she said she needed me. So why was she leaving me so fast? Did I do something wrong?

Moms fingers gripped my palm without her looking.

Another figure appeared somewhere behind her. She must be talking to whoever that person was. All I saw was a side of a white coat. The doctor without a doubt. I turned my head a little to my left as I tried to get a better glance to the person, who was probably the main reason why I was still alive. But turning my head didn't do anything, beside once again making my head spin. When I tried to move my whole body, stir in the bed, that caused a sharp pain through my ribs.

Mom spun around instantly, probably at the sound of me wince in pain

Pair of gloved hands carefully touched both of my shoulders to keep me still. As I looked to the other side of the bed, I saw the same nurse I had seen the first time I woke up. Strange how I only see her now. She must have been standing there the whole time. Her mouth moved, I did not hear a thing, did not understand what she was saying. As I stilled, the nurse smiled at me and took her hands off my shoulders.

The person, with whom mom was talking I suppose, emerged into my vision as well.

It took a moment for the information from my eyes travel to my brain and for my brain to place the person.

The doctor reached in the coats pocket and took out a small flashlight. He leaned down towards me

"No," I protested, trying to move further away from him as he came up to the bed. That of course, caused even more pain to me but this time, I fought it more. I kicked my feet, moved my body to get further away from him, turned my head.

The man in the white coat tried to reach out to me again. His intentions were not bad, I knew that. He moved his hand towards me slowly and tentatively in another attempt. All while making eye contact with, trying to get the message across that he won't hurt me.

"No! Not you...you let Markus die!" I yelped trying to move further away from him

My fear was irrational as was my current unwillingness to be treated by the same man that could not save Markus. I was alive. If he was my doctor, it meant he had saved my life already. He did his job successfully this time. I should be thanking him. But still, the idea that Amy had been waiting to hear the news about me from the same doctor informed her about her sons fate, irked at me.

I guess this was my pathetic way of trying to somehow shield mom from more pain. My way of protecting mom sucked. I knew that, but what else could I do? I could barely stay awake. Speaking was hard enough. I put most of my energy as I tried to concentrate to find the right words. They were a little jumbled up as it was.

Mom and the nurse now tried to keep me still, so I would not hurt myself, while the doctor took a small step back and looked to my mom. All three of them were speaking. More to each other, than to me.

The nurse let go, I saw her raise her hands up and take a small step back as Amy leaned down to me closer, taking the center stage.

I stopped fighting and focused my gaze to moms lips.

She repeated the phrase. Over and over again., that much I was sure of. Different speaking speed. It was longer phrase, sentence. Longer than - I love you. Amy tried to emphasize each word.

I tried to move my lips the same way Amy's lips were moving, trying to understand what she was saying to me.

It was like that game, where you put headphones over your ears, turn on loud music and try to guess that the person opposite you is trying to tell you. All fun and games at a party. But right now no one was laughing. This was my life now. Trying to read people's lip.

The words came together slowly one by one.

"He...could not..save...Markus, but he…saved...you" I muttered, eyebrows frowned, wondering if I got it right.

Mom nodded back vigorously and stroked my hair gently as she looked at me lovingly "He saved you!" That was all that mattered to her. Mom trusted this man, despite the past.

"He saved...me," I repeated, realizing that I did not need to protect mom. She was okay with it. Now I felt like a fool. Embarrassed myself. I will be a laughing stock for the doctor and nurse, the central character of their story about the craziest patients they have had.

"Sorry," I swallowed a lump, my eyes watered "...am sorry," I glanced to the doctor and the nurse, who both stood on my right, and said from the bottom of my heart "...sorry!"

The nurse slipped her palm into mine and gave it a soft squeeze, but the doctor simply smiled down at me and gave a small nod as if saying – all is forgotten and forgiven.

They gave me another minute to calm down, before the doctor clicked the flashlight on and held it up for me to see. He looked for my permission this time. I guessed he said "May I?"

I gave a slight nod back, allowing the man to do his job and help me get better.

Amy POV

The 4th floor had better coffee machine than the first floor. More drink choices. Coffee was stronger and it didn't taste like sewage water. Bigger cups. I took the large one this time, felt like I needed it.

I was nursing the cup in my hand, walking back to Callie's room. Callie had been taken to a CT scan some while back, so I was in no hurry to get back. Cooper drove back to the house to get some clothes and other stuff. For the time being I was on my own.

Now that I had seen Callie awake, talked to her, made sure that she knows I'm going to be right by her side through all of it, I finally felt like my old self. Like I could finally breathe. The road in front suddenly didn't look so insuperable and impossible. Hope had returned. Without it, everything had seem so somber and bleak.

"Amy!" I heard my name being called from the elevator. Turning around, I saw Jude, Lena and Stef stepping out. We met in the middle. I received a quick hug from all of them, in return I could only give one arm hug as I was still holding my drink in other.

"How is she?" Jude questioned. He was no doubt just as worried about her as I was.

I glanced down to my dink, swirled the plastic stick in it as I tried to find words to describe the current situation, without sounding too scary.

"Is Cooper around?" Lena asked, probably thinking that I was still staying silent

"Drove back to house," my reply came as a surprise to all of them as they had. Lena looked to be the most glad to hear my voice.

"I don't even know where to start," I told them "I'm not going to lie, she looks pretty bad. Whole body..." I gestured from my head down to my toes "covered in bruises, bandages and bigger and smaller gashes. She gets dizzy very easily. Bight light hurts her eyes. Lost her hearing from the blast, but once her eardrums heal, it should come back. She remembered her name, what year it is, what city we are in, knows who I am, recognized the doctor..."

"I sense a but," Lena said tentatively

"Callie does not recall what happened. Last memory she has is of that morning, how she got ready to head out to work. Next thing, how she woke up this morning. She has trouble finding the right word for some objects or places. Couldn't remember the word for hospital or smartphone or pen. But had no problem with simple math: 2+2 or 4x5."

"That's the TBI," Lena's face dropped a little, Stef became paler, Jude swallowed back looking scared but trying to stay brave "What did the doctor say?"

"It's quite common to have some memory or speech problems. They took her to do another CT-scan. Time will tell," I added a shrug at the end

"What room she is in?" Jude asked

"108," I said pointing down the hallway "4th door on the right. But she's at the-"

"I know, you told us already." Jude offered me a small smile "I'm going to go wait for her there."

"Check in with the nurse at the desk before you do," I told him as he was walking off

"Um...I'm going to go to bathroom," Lena said taking off as well

I observed Stef who still hadn't really made eye contact with me. She looked shaken up. Not her real self. Yesterday must have been rough for her as well.

"Hey, you good?" I reached out and tapped her arm with my index finger

Stef sucked in a deep breath and gazed back to me "I feel like a really shitty friend. I'm so sorry Amy. I'm sorry...about everything. About not going to help you look for her. About not being here sooner. About not knowing how to help you know or what to tell you. About...being so pathetic right now while you are..." Stef looked around the hospital hall "...here. Dealing with all of this. You have other things to worry about and..."

"Hey-" I reached out to rest my hand on her forearm "Don't do that. Just because my life is a complete shit hole right now, doesn't mean your troubles do not matter. You matter. And you have nothing to apologize about. You haven't done anything wrong. You are here now. Thank you for that."

Stef slowly nodded back and offered a small smile "Is there anything I can do? Anything at all?"

"A proper hug be nice," I replied gingerly

"That I can do," Stef said decreasing the distance with her arms open the next moment and pulling me in a tight hug after that


	27. Friends and family Part XVII

**AN: My goal/wish was to reach 200 chapters. Turns out...I missed it :D I was so sure that this would be the 200th chapter...but it was the last one. Anyway, yay I reached the goal. Thanks to you all. Would not have done it without you. Love you all!  
**

 **Is there anyone, who has actually read it all? Followed this story from the early ( _horribly written - I shiver of horror every time I open a chapter_ ) "Waiting for someone like you" till this chapter without giving up only to return 20 chapters later?**

 **Side note: I just read the one old review of a guest, who was confused as to why I kept writing " _mom, Stef and Lena_ " :D Dude/Gal...I'm so sorry, you just stumbled into the 4th part of an AU and I don't have time to summarize. Better read from the start if you want to understand anything that I'm writing about.**

Amy POV

Stef, Lena and I were in the hospitals cafeteria on the first floor. It was quite busy here. The cafeteria did not lack customers, despite the horrible food choice they offered.

There was a a soup, which reminded me more of a stew. There was a stew, that reminded me a lot more of something that Callie had once vomited. Pasta with some meat, looked so mediocre that I didn't even glance at it for the second time. There was a wide range of salad choice at least. In the end, we all went with mashed potatoes, some sauce and salad on side. Doctors always tells us to eat healthy, but the food available here was another reason why people choose fast food – burgers, pizzas, tacos – over this.

I managed to eat half of what I got, while Stef and Lena both cleaned out their plates.

The one thing hospital did right is pudding. At least they were constant about that. It was good the time I was forced to live here for couple of weeks and it was good today.

I ate my pudding in a matter of few short seconds. It was that good. I had craved for another one. Was about to go buy myself a new one, when Lena was kind enough to give her dessert - her pudding - to me. Before I opened it, I had turned to Stef and asked, why did she not offer me hers. Stef had laughed in my face and shielded her pudding away from me and swatted my hand away, when I had been trying to reach it, with no intent of actually getting it. It was such a Stef thing to do, that she made me forget for those 5 second, why we were here to begin with.

I was eating the second strawberry pudding, while Lena chipped of a small part of a granola bar, she had bought, but Stef was drinking her coffee. The dark circles under Stef's eyes told me she did not have a good nights sleep. She actually looked worse than I did, which surprised me, considering I haven't left the hospital in over 24 hours. It made me worry about my partner of what she had gone through yesterday. Stef has a tough skin, it takes quite a lot to really rattle her. Usually, she is better at hiding that she's not actually fine and can pretend more with ease that all is good. Yesterday must have impacted hard as we were seeing the ramifications of it today so clearly, without any effort.

"Are your parents flying in?" Stef asked licking the spoon that she had used to swirl the coffee a second ago

I breathed out "No," and went for another small spoon of the pudding "Haven't called them yet. I don't want to worry them. There's nothing they can do anyways."

"Amy," Lena sighed, chastising me softly. I knew she was trying to look out for me.

"I know, I know," I lowered the pudding and looked to Lena, who was giving me a look. Not a stern look, more like full of concern "I will call them...just not today."

"You can't keep them in the dark. I can call them for you, if you want."

As mush as I appreciated the gesture, that was too much to ask for them "If you do that, you would give my parents a heart attack! Last time you spoke to them on the phone, I had been shot and almost died."

Lena leaned back in the chair "Right," she nodded back agreeing "Not a good idea."

"But...thank you for offering. It was nice of you. You are a good friend," I told her looking to her eyes "You both are," I added glancing to Stef

We sat in silence for a moment. I ate two more spoons of the pudding, Stef took three more sips of the coffee, but Lena chipped of two more pieces of the granola bar.

"Do you think she's going to move back in the house after discharged?" Stef asked, lowering the cup down to the table

"I would want her to. I want to be near her. Take care of her. Cooper would be there to help as well. Duke's there to keep company. Small yard for her to sit out. Fresh air. Space. Quiet. It's home, you know. But..." I leaned back in the chair "Two things: I'm not sure if she will want to move back home. She had been looking forward to having her own place, be more independent, starting her own life. So, if she doesn't want to, I'm not going to force her."

"You said two things," Lena replied tossing the chipped of granola piece in her mouth "What's the second?"

"Stairs," I said simply before digging my spoon in the pudding once again

"Ah," and "M-hmm" was heard from Stef and Lena. Not sure which hummed what. Lena glanced to her wife as if recalling in her mind the struggle Stef had walking up and down, when she had been shot the first time. Stairs had been my enemy, when I had been recovering from being shot. The stairs had seemed so much longer, steeper and the steps higher apart than they actually were. The railing really was tested those first few weeks. I had forgotten the count, how many times Callie helped me walk up and down. Cooper even carried me up and down the first few days.

"If she goes back to the apartment-" Stef raised her eyebrow

"Oh, I'm definitely moving in for a week or two, or a month. However long I need to!" I replied without missing a beat

* * *

When I returned back to the Callie's room, she was already brought back and Jude was sitting next to her bed, watching her sleep. He stirred as I stepped inside. Jude ran his thumb quickly over his cheek before sitting up more straight and glancing to me quickly, before returning his gaze to his sister.

I did not comment about the fact that I saw – he had been crying. There was no question in my mind about the reason why he had been crying.

"Was she awake, when she got back?" I asked taking a seat on the other side

Jude nodded "Mhmm," he glanced to me, a small smile spread across his lips, it even reached his eyes "She smiled at me."

"Did she say anything?"

"Just – _hey, Jude_!" Jude looked down, almost as if trying to hide his grin "It made the nurse laugh. You know, because of the Beetle song."

"Yeah," I returned the smile as I leaned back in the chair and relaxed a little, as much as it was possible. Reaching in my pocket, I took out my phone and started to do some research about all of the injuries Callie had. Doctor already went through it all, but I simply needed to busy myself. What better way to torture myself by reading all of the forums about burn victims or TBI. I had already read all of the booklets that the doctor had gave me, twice if not thrice.

It was some hour later, when I heard Jude speak. Looking up from the screen, I saw him holding his phone out and in front of him in his right, while with his left he was still holding on to Callie's hand. He was not speaking to me, he was reading out. I listened carefully for a while.

" _Near a great forest there lived a poor woodcutter and his wife and his two children; the boy's name was Hansel and the girl's Gretel. They had very little to bite or to sup, and once, when there was great dearth in the land, the man could not even gain the daily bread."_

I interrupted him, when I felt the first paragraph was over "Jude, she can't hear you. You know that, right?" I reminded him gently. It was very sweet of him to read to his sister, my heart melted at the gesture, but I also knew it was a bit useless, though, I'm was not going to say it that bluntly.

Jude paused briefly, looked up to me and nodded "Mom used to read to us, when we were sick," Jude told me as held the eye contact for 10 long seconds

And in those seconds, I saw in his eyes that he was doing it more for himself, than he was for Callie. He knew she was sleeping, he knew damn well she could not hear him. Jude needed to busy himself while he sat with her, because otherwise it was too painful. Too hard to see her like this, to think about the pain and what she might feel or think, or how scared or confused she was. Jude was too scared to sit in silence. Bad thoughts tend to come out then and he did not want to go there.

I gave an apologetic nod back and hoped he would continue. It actually soothed me as well.

Jude's reading was interrupted once more, when Cooper returned.

"Hey, man!" Cooper placed his hand on Jude's shoulder and looked down to him "How are you doing?"

They had started to shake hands, when meeting ever since Jude had turned 14 or 15. It was the way men always greeted each other. A firm handshake - it was the difference between boys and men. Jude seemed to love that about their relationship. That Cooper saw and treated him like a man, like an equal, that he respected. Not some young boy.

Today, the handshake had been replaced with more personal and caring touch.

"Been better," Jude replied honestly, looking up to Cooper.

Cooper said back nothing as he made his way to the other side of the bed to place a soft kiss on Callie's forehead, before turning to me and giving me a quick peck on the lips.

Now that they both were here, it gave me the peace in mind needed that I can drive back home real quick. I needed to take a shower, badly. Change out of my clothes as I was still in my police uniform pants and black t-shirt and boots, minus the uniform shirt, belt and gun. While home, I needed to call my parents, because Lena was right, I can't keep this for them. As much as I hated to admit it, I needed to hear my parents voices, I needed them to tell me that everything will be all right in the end. Before I drive back, I needed to stop at the station, talk to my Captain about taking some time off.

"Keys and registration?" I whispered to Cooper. He placed his Nissan car keys in my palm and put the registration in my back pocket

"Thanks," I replied and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, before I stood up. Jude looked to me, wondering where I was going.

"I'm going to drive home. Need to take care of some things," I informed Jude, before looking between the two men "Do not leave her alone, okay?"

I did not want her to wake up and find herself alone. Or worse, just surrounded by strangers – nurses and doctors. I still remember, how scared I was when I woke up after being shot and not seeing any familiar face.

"We won't," Cooper confirmed and reached out for my hand, giving it a squeeze "We will be okay for few hours. Go."

As I closed the doors behind me and looked back, I heard Jude continue on with reading the story and saw Cooper pull out his laptop as he was already planning what physical therapy Callie might need once she's well enough to start.

 _Callie's going to be safe with these two_ – I thought to myself before I hurried towards the exit, wanting to get back here as soon as possible.

* * *

5 days later Callie tried to stand up for the first time. Just stand, for a couple of seconds. Nothing else. She needed to start moving again.

There were a lot of things that made me squirm, flinch, close my eyes and be all together restless as I watched from the side.

Her ribs, were still very much broken. Too quick, too fast, too much movement – it all hurt. While she no longer felt dizzy at even the slightest move, there was still the possibility that she gets lightheaded when she stands. Her leg, the one where a shard had been embedded in her leg, was no where near healed. Callie could not depend on her strong arms as well, because one was in bandages that covered burns, but other was very weak and she could barely move it because of the broken collar bone.

So, no – I did not like this, but doctors said that it was important to get her on her feet as soon as possible. To get her standing, slowly moving. Just a step back and forth. It helps blood circulates better, avoid blood cogs. She had barely moved for the last five days. 90% of the time she had been sleeping. Bedsores were a real threat and we needed to avoid them.

Now that I thought about it, I actually hated this down to my bone. I felt that pain along with Callie. I could barely stand watching how she struggled to even move her legs to hang over the side of the bed. It's quite possible I hated this so much more than she did, because I knew the struggle, knew how much it takes out of you. Watching my daughter go through the same stuff I did few years ago, was nearly killing me on the inside.

"We won't let you fall," the nurse had told me as I stared down to the floor, that my feet were barely touching for now

"I don't think I can do it," I breathed out already feeling exhausted just by getting to this sitting position. Being shot does that to you. At this moment, I did not trust myself. It felt like my body could betray me any second. My legs will give up, knees buckle and I will hit the ground hard. Splitting open my lip, breaking my wrist or pulling the stitches open on my leg or my chest.

"You can do it, mom!" Callie encouraged standing in the corner, watching me intensely. I tilted my head up and looked to my daughter, who has been my rock through this all. While I did not believe in my strength, Callie did. And it was enough for me to believe in myself for the next minute.

"Okay," I gripped the doctor and nurses hand that stood on either side of me, to help me with just getting up on my feet first "Okay," I tried to hype myself up "Just stand...I can do that...standing...that's easy, right, kiddo?" I looked to my daughter and smirked at her, needing to see and hear the support from her

"Like stealing a candy from a baby!" Callie beamed back trying to keep the hype going snapping her fingers at me

"Now, that-" I loosed the grip on the nurse and doctor as I focused on my daughter "That's a bad example honey. Babies have a super hulk grip. Once they grip something in their little hands they never let go. One time, when while I was breastfeeding Markus, he gripped my hair so hard-"

"Mom, quit stalling and stand up, goddammit!"

I blinked back taken aback by her change of tone. It was like she was the bad and good cop all at once. She had snapped me back to the real issue at hand. "All right, all right...give me a moment" I focused back on my injured leg

Callie walked over to me, but remained standing a step in front of me. To me, it seemed too far away, but I knew, if I just stand up and take one small step, I would reach her. Would be able to touch her. Look her straight in the eye, not looking up to her. She could put her head on my shoulder, while I hugged her. Those thought kept me motivated.

I pushed myself up from the bed. My weight was distributed only on my healthy leg for the moment, injured leg was slightly bent at knee, toes barely reaching the floor. I was gripping the doctors and nurses hand hard. They were basically the ones who were keeping me up. I was breathing hard, like I had ran for the last 5 minute or so.

"Excellent," the nurse praised me "How does it feel to be back on your feet?"

"Good," I beamed back, happy that I had managed it, despite the pain and how much strength it took. Looking at Callie, a wide and bright smile appeared on her face, making me smile as well.

"Nice one, mom!"

"Can you put your foot down?" Doctor asked looking down

My toes barley touched the floor. Carefully, I pressed my foot down a little bit more, trying to transfer a small fraction of my weight to it, but it caused shooting pain up my injured leg "No! No...not happening!" I exclaimed in pain, dropping my buttocks back on the bed

"That's okay. You did good for today. We'll try again later. For now, rest." Doctor told me as Callie hurried up to me and help me raise my legs back in the bed

I was brought out of my memory, when my brain registered that Callie was about to try and stand up. In her eyes, I saw the same struggle that I had felt. The exhaustion. The pain. The – I do not trust myself to do this – look. The fear of falling, crumbling down to floor, of her body giving up and hurting herself even more.

"You can do it, Callie," I encouraged her, forgetting that she can't hear me as I walked to stand just a small step from her. As I realized that, I tried to show it more with my body language.

Callie followed me with her eyes "All you have to do is stand up. Only for a second." I had clapped my hands, trying to hype her up by transferring the positive energy "You can do it!"

"Easy...like stealing a candy from a baby..." Callie said, her voice was louder at the start but quieter at the end, as she held the eye contact with me

The corners of my lips turned upwards, as I was sure, she was recalling the same memory I had a moment ago "Yeah, like stealing a candy from a baby," I nodded back and held my arms out, palms up. Encouraging for her to get to me.

The next thing I know, I'm watching how she pushes herself up on her feet huffing and puffing and breathing heavily, but she does. Sweat beads appeared on her forehead and her hands are trembling a little, from the exhaustion and pain, but she did it. Being carefully held by the nurse and doctor, but she's standing.

"That's my girl," I said watching her proudly, as she managed to take a step that ensured, that she reached me. Her strengths was gone the next second as she crumbled in my arms.

"You got her?" The doctor asked me as I held her up

What a stupid question that was "I got her," I assured them

I felt Callie's fingers grip at my shirt. For a moment, I thought she will rip it as it felt like she was holding on for dear life.

"I got you!" I whispered, when our eyes had briefly met, before I helped Callie get back to her bed. I will always catch her, when she falls.

Always.


End file.
